What Could Have Been
Chapter One: Reunion
"C'mon! We're almost there!"
They finally made it; the helicopter was a mere twenty feet away. Just a little more to go before they could fly their way to freedom.
"M-Mr. Mask!"
The masked man looked over his shoulder to get a good look at the girl whose hand he was holding. Her skin was glowing from the thin coat of sweat and her beautiful green hair was sticking onto her face. The heroes were able to fight off the masks that were protecting the chopper and decided it was finally time to make their grand escape. Yuri, Mayuko, Rika, Sniper Mask, Kuon, and everyone else that fought alongside them were finally going home.
"I-I can't keep up," the girl panted heavily. Her claim was proven as she started to trip over her own two feet.
"We're almost there, Kuon," the sniper exclaimed. "Finish strong!"
Kuon looked her angel in the eyes. He was right. She knew he was right. Just a few more feet and the helicopter was theirs.
She gave him a quick nod and continued to run.
Sniper Mask whipped his head forward, concentrating on reaching their destination. The helicopter, it was close, he could practically jump into it. Unfortunately, it was too good to be true. Bullets whisked past Sniper Mask, but luckily for him every single one missed him. However, following the crossfire was an agonizing scream. Sniper's heart dropped as he felt a light weight pull down on his arm. He slowed to a stop and turned back to check on Kuon. All of a sudden, he couldn't breathe, and his body grew weak. Laying down limp on the ground was Kuon. Her uniform, her hair, and her skin were stained a bright crimson.
"K-Kuon," Sniper Mask said in a hushed voice. He knelt down beside the girl and carefully lifted her head.
She opened her mouth to call out to him, but her words came out as an inaudible whisper. She reached her hand to touch his face, tracing her thumb along the cracked plastic of his mask.
"I-I'm sorry," Kuon managed to say. "I-I guess... this is... goodbye..."
"No! Kuon!"
The life in her eyes faded as Sniper Mask's cries no longer reached the dying girl.
...
"Kuon!"
The young man jolted awake as he hungrily gasped for air. He felt as though he hadn't been breathing and tried taking deep breaths to compensate. His head swished from side to side as he peered into the darkness of his bedroom. As if they had minds of their own, the young man's legs forced him to scramble out of bed. He found himself entering what seemed to be a bathroom and quickly flipped on the light switch. After his eyes adjusted to the blinding light, the anxious man looked in the mirror that hung in front of him.
"It... It was only a dream?"
He was relieved to see that his face wasn't hidden beneath that dreadful mask. He lifted his left hand to trace the small pink scar that made its mark below his left eye.
I'm still Yuka Makoto.
Yuka let out a quiet sigh, thinking how pathetic he was being for psyching himself out the way he did. It had been two years since his escape from the high-rise world. It had been two years and he was still having nightmares. How long would it take for him to get over it? He always asked himself that, but the answer was never clear. Before heading back to bed, Yuka rinsed his face and neck with the sink water to wash away the cold sweat.
The bed creaked underneath the young man's weight as he planted himself onto the mattress. He managed to calm himself down, but the nightmare still had him shook, especially since it was about...
"Kuon."
Saying her name was foreign to him. Ever since they escaped, Yuka hadn't once seen his dear friend. When they left the other realm, it was like they were pulled out of a dream. The young man remembered escaping the hellish world with the helicopter but following their escape Yuka woke up in his own bed with no idea of how he got there. He longed to see the cheerful girl again, but he didn't know where to start his search. He thought about asking his stepsister if she knew anything about Kuon, but the young man couldn't muster up the courage to ask her.
Brown eyes spotted the digital alarm clock that sat on the nightstand. The glowing red numbers read 5:00 AM. Right next to the alarm clock was Yuka's smartphone.
It should be okay to call him, right?
After giving it some thought, Yuka decided not to call his younger brother. It was early in the morning, and he didn't want to bother him with his problems. Besides, he was going to meet his brother later in the day.
Yuka fell into his pillows and attempted to go back to sleep. After a couple hours of tossing and turning and staring at the ceiling, he gave in and got up to take his morning shower.
The sound of gunshots rang in the air. Bullets flew through hanging pieces of wood, causing the material to break with a loud crack and fall onto the floor. The round of bullets would cease once there were no visible targets to shoot. Standing on the opposite side of the wooden targets was Yuka. His raven hair was matted by earmuffs and his face sported safety goggles. He picked up a lit cigarette he had laying on a narrow counter and slipped it into his mouth, taking a drag as he emptied the gun he was using.
"Still got it," the man muttered triumphantly as he admired his work.
Yuka spent a couple hours at a local shooting range that resided a few blocks from his apartment. Within the first year upon returning, Yuka found himself practicing at the shooting range. Despite the fact that the mask Yuka once wore made him an exemplary marksman, he persisted in being skillful with firearms.
The young man packed away his gun in a small bag he carried after stripping off his safety gear. He then reached for his smartphone from the back pocket of his jeans. With a click of a button, he turned on his phone and checked to see if he had any messages.
"Oh, a message from Rika."
He lightly tapped the screen and read the text quietly to himself.
To: Yuka Makoto
From: Rika Honjo
Subject: Meeting Up
Message: Hey, Yu. I'm at the cafe we promised to meet up at. I got ahold of Yuri, and she said she and Mayuko are able to join us. She also wanted me to tell you that she has someone she wants you to see. See you when you get here.
Yuka was caught off-guard as he wasn't expecting to meet someone else other than his younger siblings and Mayuko. Who was it Yuri wanted him to see? He could care less, if he had to be completely honest. But knowing Yuri, Yuka wasn't getting out of it.
Wait... What if it's...?
He thought to himself for a moment as he felt his heart thump against his chest.
Nah, there's no way.
The man let out an exhausted sigh as he took his leave from the shooting range.
Yuka arrived at his destination, but before going in he decided to stand in the sun and have a quick smoke, lazily watching people and a few cars move past him. He knew he had to quit. He really wanted to quit. However, his unhealthy habit stuck with him just like his ability to shoot. Besides, smoking was one of the few things that alleviated his stress, so he knew quitting wasn't going to be on his personal agenda anytime soon.
The young man finished the rest of his cigarette. He tossed it in a public ashtray that stood outside the cafe. Prior to going in, Yuka took in a deep breath. He didn't know why he was so hesitant; it was only lunch with his siblings, Mayuko, and some stranger. Even so, it had been two years since he saw everyone in the flesh. Ever since Yuka and everyone else escaped the high-rise world, everybody took the time to focus on themselves and adjust back to normality.
"Be cool," he whispered. "Once you sit down and start talking, you'll just pick up right where you left off."
The tall man opened the glass door only to be greeted by a soft jingle of a bell. He nodded at a couple of waitresses as he entered the small café. He could have sworn that some of the women didn't take their eyes off of him. If he heard correctly, there was also a quiet chorus of giggles and whispers. Instances like that was when Yuka wished he still wore that mask.
"Yu!"
Yuka looked over and saw his brother Rika waving at him with a smile. The younger man was sitting alone in a booth. Yuka made a beeline for the table and ruffled the black mop on his younger brother's head before taking a seat across from him.
"Man, you look like shit," Rika smirked as he took a sip of his water he had ordered earlier. "And you reek of cigarette smoke. Old habits die hard, huh?"
"Tell me about it," Yuka replied with a wry smile. He leaned back into the booth and crossed his arms. "Where's Yuri?"
"You know her, that girl is always fashionably late."
"Sounds like she became lax," Yuka chuckled. "I don't blame her, though. We needed this time to relax, especially after what we went through to get back here."
Rika's eyes softened as he looked at his older brother. It had been a couple of years since their grand escape, but the younger brother knew that their memories of the other realm wouldn't simply go away. Ever since they got back, Yuka hadn't been the same. Hell, everyone who fell victim to the high-rise world changed in some way, shape, or form.
"I know I should've asked earlier, but how are you doing, Yu?"
Yuka's eyes trailed along the inside of the café until they met with Rika's. The troubled man didn't want to answer his younger sibling's question, but the concern and care Rika's eyes held for him broke the walls he tried putting up. How could he not say anything if Rika looked at him like that?
The older brother let out a quiet sigh. He then looked out the window as if doing that would help him find the answer.
"I've been doing okay. I still have dreams of the other world. Most of the time it's a replay of our escape, but other times it's the opposite. Let's just say that these dreams can get... gruesome."
"Yuka..."
Rika wanted to say something, anything, but no words came out. He didn't know what to say; comforting someone wasn't a strength of his. Most of the time, the boy would tell people it how it was and tell them to "suck it up." He was always like that and being stuck in the high-rise world made him even more blunt. However, Yuka wasn't "people", he was Rika's brother, his family. He couldn't bring himself to ignore his older brother's troubles and worries. No matter what, Rika would do anything for Yuka and try his best to support him. Even if he had no idea how.
"You don't have to worry about me, Rika," Yuka reassured his younger brother with a tired smile. "I'll be fine. Soon this will all pass, and soon I will be able to leave the other world behind."
Seeing Yuka's worries wash away was such a relief to Rika. He smiled back at his brother before taking another sip of his water. His attention shifted from the tall man in front of him to the café's entrance once he heard a familiar voice call out to him. Standing some feet away was his younger sister Yuri and her girlfriend Mayuko Nise.
"Look who's here," Rika said as he waved the two girls over.
Yuka looked back over his shoulder and greeted the couple with a small wave and smile of his own. His smile faltered, however, when the girls side-stepped to reveal a familiar face. Her green doe eyes, her long waves of green, her radiance... Two years and nothing about her changed. The only thing that was different were her clothes; she no longer sported her high school uniform. The clothes she wore consisted of a yellow sundress with matching yellow heels. Yuka had to admit that the heels really showed off her legs and reflected her maturity.
The girl walked over to the group and greeted both Rika and Yuka with a kind smile. To everyone's surprise, she didn't realize who Yuka was. It wasn't until...
"Kuon?"
That voice. Her eyes were quick to land on the tall man. The smile she had before fell and her lips slightly parted as she took in Yuka's appearance. Most importantly his face.
"M-Mr. Mask?"
Yuka never thought he would ever hear that name again.
A/N: Hey guys! It's so unlike me but I published another story! It's another Sniper Mask x Kuon fanfic and I'm really excited about it. Just like the title says, this story is going to explore the "what if." There are going to be more chapters; I'm thinking there will be two or three more. I didn't plan to make this story long anyway, lol. I have a direction planned and my plan shows that this story will be short. Just to clarify, Kuon did not see Sniper Mask's face after they escaped. I have a reason for doing that and I hope it makes sense because Kuon seeing his face for the first time is important for the next chapter. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter!