"Hello," For the first time in a while, Hamuko reacted somewhat calmly towards someone's voice. The severely depressed redhead slowly sat up on her bed and looked over at Pharos who looked like he was crying himself somewhat.
"Pharos?" Hamuko rubbed her eyes.
"Are you we-" The enigmatic boy stopped himself. He looked below at the ground. "It pains me to see you like this."
"..." Hamuko took a deep breath and curled into a ball, hugging her knees. "I promised myself I would stop crying but this..." She sniffed. "I can't think of anything but him."
"That is called... love? Am I right?" Pharos asked.
Hamuko sniffed again. "Yeah..." She clasped her mouth with her hand and let loose some tears. "I want to see him again, just one time. He's done so much for me and this group but in the end... all he got was torture."
"Hamuko," Pharos reached out and patted her back as the redhead kept sobbing. "I'm sorry I can't help you right now. Seeing you like this really pains me." The auburn haired girl slowly wrapped her arms around the boy and hugged him close.
Pharos was taken a back but he ended up smiling and kept patting her. "I'm always here for you, friend."
"I want to see him again, Pharos," Hamuko bit her lip. "I just want to hold him once again."
Hamuko spent the next ten minutes leaning on Pharos and pouring her heart out in front of him. Pharos comforted her just like Minato used to and it put the redhead at ease, somewhat.
"I have to go now," Pharos said with a small smile. "Please take care of yourself."
Hamuko wiped her tears away and nodded with a barely noticeable smile. "You too." With that, Pharos disappeared, leaving Hamuko alone once again.
She looked around the room and her mental state began to deteriorate once again. The naginata that Minato gifted her. The cell phone he gave her as a present. The clothes he brought for her after Yakushima.
The anxiety and stress levels kept building up for the redhead and she couldn't hold on long. Hamuko started yelling out in pure sorrow on the top of her lungs. The team rushed towards the third floor again but it really didn't matter. Hamuko was broken.
...
Minato was very close to crushing Tsukio's larynx into pieces but like always, he was restrained by the other members of Strega. Minato tried to power out but he was still pretty injured.
"Let me go!" Minato snarled, kicking his legs. "This bitch has a lot of nerve!"
"You bastard," Tsukio snapped back. "You were about to rape me. Think I'd let that slide!?"
"You're ugly as fuck!" Minato gritted his teeth. "I wouldn't be anywhere near you!"
Tsukio was about to snap again and maybe drill a few knives into his flesh but Takaya came running into the room. "Calm down!"
"Oh, here he comes," Minato mocked. "You are one of the worst leaders I've seen in my life. You better keep your bitch in a leash for else she'll be joining Steve real soon."
Takaya found that somewhat amusing and so he smiled. "Take a deep breath and let me report what Chidori have found out." Keima and Jin let go off Minato who sent a final glare at the female and then looked straight at Takaya.
"The battle in the shrine injured a certain dog. A white furred canine who was taken in by the group," Takaya explained.
"..." Minato kept staring passively at him. Why would he give a shit about that?
Takaya widened his smirk and let out a cough. "Also, it seems that girl has been adjusting quite well to life without you." The words hit Minato like a ton of bricks. He blinked. "She was worried over her two injured teammates, might I add."
"...And?"
"Well, she said she won't forgive you for doing that," Takaya replied, barely able to keep a poker face.
Minato's expression darkened as his shoulders slumped. She doesn't care?
"I hope you don't find this offensive but she was only using you as a meat shield," Takaya mused. "Otherwise, she would have scouted you out if she really did care about you."
Minato started walking away mid-sentence. He went back into his room and slammed his door shut. He slowly slid down against it and bit his lip.
"... Guess I was nothing but a puppet," He chuckled bitterly. Standing up, Minato pulled out a small locket from his pocket and flipped it open. He gazed lifelessly at the picture of herself and Hamuko for some good ten minutes.
He slowly tossed it to the side and clutched his head. Something was forcefully taking over him once again.
Minato lost himself and went flying out of the apartment. Setting his sights on a bunch of coffins nearby, he fished his knife out and went killing once again. Minato regained control of himself just after he ended the life of an adult in a business suit. He blinked and looked around the place. Mangled corpses and puddles of blood.
"TCH!" He tossed the knife to the side and walked away.
...
Akihiko was getting his ass handed to her by Mitsuru, verbally of course. "I never took you for a such a fool!"
"HEY!" Akihiko growled. "Shit is getting crazy here. I thought I could beat some sense into him."
"Beat some sense into Arisato?" Mitsuru shot back.
"Will you two chill out?" Shinjiro sighed. This was a daily occurrence years ago. He leveled Akihiko with a glare. "Still Aki, that was pretty stupid."
"Ugh," Akihiko groaned. "Not you too Shinji."
"Arisato is crossing every line," Mitsuru fumed. "He's already injured Iori, killed dozens of innocents and he didn't hold back against his senior." She stomped her feet. "That vile, wretched disgrace to humanity."
"Something was strange..." Akihiko said, making Mitsuru turn towards him with an arched eyebrow.
"I know he's somewhat mentally unstable but this time, I don't really think it was him,"
"What do you mean?"
Akihiko's mind flashed back to the battle. "He kept laughing." He bit his lip, remembering the dozens of strikes he landed. "I put my blades through his shoulder, leg and his freaking gut, yet..." Minato's insane laugh resounded within his psyche. "He kept laughing and the look in his eyes was far more terrifying."
"I'm joining," Shinjiro spoke up abruptly. The other two seniors looked at him with wide eyes. Did he really say that?
"R-Really?" Akihiko blinked.
"Yeah, I don't think this will end well," Shinjiro sighed and took a seat next to Akihiko. "Tell me exactly what happened with him."
...
...
The normally stoic Shinjiro was shaken up several times during the briefing. Mitsuru told him everything from Ikutsuki being a traitor to Minato leaving them because of the misunderstanding.
"Ikutsuki did that? That bastard," Shinjiro growled.
"Yes..." Mitsuru pinched the bridge of her nose. "We really have no lead regarding him. What he wanted to accomplish or anything."
"... Truth be told, I'd be pretty pissed too if that happened to me," Shinjiro said with a rather quiet voice. "That kid isn't normal to begin with and after what happened to him... I can see why he flipped."
"But he's killing innocent people!" Akihiko cried. "He sent Junpei to the hospital!"
"I told you Aki. That kid isn't normal," Shinjiro repeated. "He seems to have a lot of baggage." He looked below. "Even more than us."
"..." Mitsuru bit her lip. "He did save my father indirectly."
Akihiko looked towards the roof. "He kept Hamuko happy."
...
Yukari sat next to Hamuko on her bed, her hand playing around with Hamuko's messy hair. "Are you okay now?" She asked softly.
"..." Hamuko sighed. "I won't be... until he comes back."
"..." Yukari cringed. "Hamuko, do you really love him that much?"
"At first, no..." Hamuko started. "I always though he was a good friend but when we... fought the Reaper." She took a deep breath. "When he pushed me away and took the shot... I really thought I would lose my mind if he didn't come back."
Yukari cringed, remembering the condition of Minato after their struggle against Death. "I understand..." She withdrew her hand. "He's rude, cold and callous but deep down... I think he's probably the nicest guy around."
Hamuko bit her lip. Yukari didn't know that a supernatural entity was responsible for the greater part of his personality. She wanted to tell her but she couldn't, she had promised Igor.
"Yeah, underneath all those layers of rage and blood lust, Minato is a decent guy," Hamuko gave a ghost of a smile but started tearing up again.
"Oh crap!" Yukari pulled her closer and kept massing her head. "Calm down Hamuko. Calm down." The embrace helped somewhat and Hamuko drifted to sleep moments later.
Yukari sighed and wiped her eyes clean from the building tears. Seeing Hamuko like this really pained her. "Will it ever be okay?" She wondered, tightening the embrace.
"If anyone can bring him back Hamuko... It's only you,"
...
Minato came back into Strega's apartment, caked in blood and emotionless as usual. This was almost a daily occurrence now but nobody seemed to pay it any mind. Takaya had stated earlier to let Minato do as he please, it would only distance him from the team and most importantly, Hamuko.
Minato caught Takaya counting cash that he probably received for killing some poor sucker via his stupid ass revenge website. Takaya had approached Minato a few days ago for taking part in their late night activities but the blue haired teen flipped him off and sent him away.
"Welcome," Takaya said calmly. "Heavy at work like always, I see."
Minato didn't respond as Takaya held out a small wad of cash. "You want some?"
Minato blew a raspberry and started walking away.
Wait...
He came back and squinted his eyes at something was was sticking out of Takaya's pant pocket. It was a blue-ish irregularly sharped crystal which was glowing. Even though it looked like a crystal, it was giving off energy.
Minato had half a mind to pummel Takaya and take the crystal away but he shrugged and walked into his room. He wasn't too bothered and since it was in Takaya's pocket, he decided to let it go.
"That hippie seems to be working out," Minato wondered as he landed on his bed. He eyed the locket that was in the corner of his room and let out a sad sigh. Burying his head into the smelly old pillow, Minato forced himself into sleep.
On the other side, Hamuko woke up and let a helpless whimper. She grabbed a hold of Minato's photo nearby and held it against her chest.
"Dammit," The two said in unison, even though they were miles away from each other.
Huge CD alert, and I mean HUGEEEE! I hope you guys get the hint and yeah, I'm pretty excited for this shit now. Thanks goes to the sadist group AND mostly importantly, Raidou the 16th. Thanks brah, you helped me tons. *thumbs up*
Holy shit, this story has been on for over 2 years now. I really want to finish this, I prolly can reach the full moon hanged man if you guys stick with me.
And again, please review and give constructive criticism, share your views on the story, whether good or bad. :P We will only learn.
Anyway, thanks for reading and hopefully, see you all soon. Totally depends on you. :P