~ Prömödas AB, Tokyo Varanium processing plant~
This was so numbing, so intoxicating that she barely had the capacity left to think straight anymore.
Rentarō's lips, firmly planted over her mouth, were so warm and distracting that every single thought she tried to conjure up was dissolving immediately upon formation and the only thing she could think about was how odd a turn this was.
He kept on pressing against her mouth, feeling only the dryness that her lips possessed, a faint salty taste on them being a natural consequence of that fact. She apparently didn't have the time to drink that much water that day, unsurprisingly.
She immediately tried to resist and push away from him, to dislodge her mouth from his but, in doing so, he only insisted by pressing the palm of his hand into the back of her head, only deepening the kiss.
At that moment, she stopped resisting, as she finally calmed herself down and then closed her eyes, just giving up at trying to stop him and succumbing to her desires, simply turning mellow in his arms and allowing him to take control of her body. She would have said that she didn't want this but, in reality, she was enjoying it more than anyone else in that room, even more so than Rentarō. His hot breath on her face and his unnaturally soft and tender lips were enough to make her heart race more than it ever had before.
After what seemed like an eternity, the boy finally parted his lips from hers, pulling his head away as they both opened their eyelids, staring into each other's gaze, very flustered and blushing madly.
Enju: "Geez, you could have warned me! My heart wasn't prepared for that!" she was looking away, still not really knowing how to react. After all the past couple of weeks during which he had ignored all of her advances towards him, having him just give up now and be the one to take the initiative was not only refreshing but genuinely amazing for her. She would never have guessed that these were the circumstances that made him open to such invitations in the first place; quite an odd setting for that too.
Rentarō: "You're not one to talk!" he glared back at her, before he began to wipe his lips with the sleeve of his coat very nonchalantly.
The two spectators to that whole ordeal, Kisara and Masahiko, didn't say anything during that whole scene. Neither of them knew what to add or if they should even interrupt, seeing how out of place such a display of affection was for their current situation.
Kisara was just blushing profusely while staring from the corner, being too reluctant and scared to even ask Rentarō what the hell he was even planning.
Rentarō: "Is this good enough for you, Masahiko?" he began yelling out of nowhere while still holding his Initiator in his arms very affectionately.
The man in question, still perturbed by such a shameless act of romance, didn't even know where to begin answering.
Masahiko: "Good enough for what?! What the hell was that?!" Enju's father responded outraged, even him not having foreseen any of what had transpired.
Rentarō: "For proving that Enju is not dangerous yet! You saw me kissing her lips, didn't you? We shared enough saliva just now to have me become infected, had she really been infectious! But I'm not turning into a Gastrea now, am I?" he continued to explain, finally revealing what was the real intention to his plan.
Now that he had made it obvious what he was doing, it was finally starting to make sense. Masahiko, though, wasn't impressed.
Masahiko: "What a load of crap! Just because she's not dangerous now doesn't mean she won't be dangerous tomorrow! You didn't prove anything significant when you did that!" the man still refused to acknowledge his attempt at a peaceful conclusion, still dead-set on finishing what he had started.
Apparently, Rentarō's logic was not going to be enough to impress him.
Rentarō: "By the time tomorrow arrives, I will have taken her to a hospital to be tested! This shows that there's no reason for anyone to kill her yet! That way, not only will we learn if she'll become a danger by then or not, but we'll also learn if she has the antibodies that humanity needs to fight the virus! Given this situation, I'd say it's worth a try!" he still tried to reason.
Enju couldn't believe how far he was willing to go just to prove to her that she was not a menace to anyone. The fact that he was trying so hard to protect her life made her feel incredibly fortunate to have this man as her Promoter.
Masahiko: "NO! IT'S NOT WORTH THE RISK!" he finally lost his patience. Seeing how this conversation was steering further and further away from where he wanted it to go, he barely could contain his rage anymore. He wanted her dead and he wished for Rentarō to be the one to deal the finishing blow. Regardless of how much reason he wanted to argue with, Rentarō was still very stubborn apparently.
Masahiko: "FOR CRYING OUT LOUD, YOU'RE A PROMOTER! Don't you see how dangerous this type of behavior is?! You're protecting a ticking time bomb! Hell, you already failed in preventing her from doing damage just a couple of days ago and now, even when you're being presented the chance of redemption and proving to me that you are good at your job, you still choose to do the exact opposite of what you should! You take unnecessary risks that place Tokyo's population in danger just because of some petty feelings of attachment! You can't make the sacrifice when the time calls for it and you haven't learned a single damn thing since your past mistake!" usually Masahiko was a very calm and collected man but, after such an arduous conversation with that man, he finally cracked. After so many years he became passionate about something yet again.
Rentarō: "Now that you mention it, I may have not learned anything…..you're right! These past couple of days have felt very empty without Enju being there in my life…." the girl in question just remained silent, simply watching Rentarō talk to her father and carefully paying attention to everything that he was saying. "But that's because I realized how much I don't want her to be away from me. You may call what I feel for her 'petty feelings of attachment' but, at the same time, it's these 'petty feelings' that give me hope in myself….hope that I'm not just a soulless killing machine that's there to keep Gastrea in check!" seeing Masahiko lose his temper, Rentarō knew that this was the time to strike back at him.
Rentarō: "I may be a weak emotional fool but I'd rather be that and make her feel happy than just treat her as a weapon, like she's always been treated before she met me, and risk having her never know what a normal life is like! When I met her, she was just an empty husk…", images of Enju in her light blue dress back at the I.I.S.O. when Rentarō had first met her played back in his mind. "...angry and rabid, because she had never known the love of another human before….because she never had parents to be there for her and appreciate her existence!" images of Enju having a happy time with Kisara and him back at her tenth birthday party appeared in his memories.
Rentarō: "But I treated her as I would have my own little sister! I home schooled her for a bit, I gave her a chance to choose whether she wanted to be my partner or not, I even tried to encourage her to seek a better future for herself like any child her age should! And I didn't do this because she was my Initiator, nor did I do it because she was a Cursed Child; I did it because it's the right thing to do for any child!" he began to pick up in volume once again, becoming more and more confident as he spoke.
Rentarō: "All of this time I protected her because I wanted to see her happy! And, as her father, you should have understood why I did it and why I'm struggling right now to still keep her alive even after what happened!" he tried to scold back the older man.
Masahiko sighed, in annoyance.
Masahiko: "It's precisely because I'm her father that I cannot allow her to pose any more risk for humanity than she already does! It's my responsibility to make sure that she dies before she does any damage to society as a whole! That's why I can't allow my emotions to cloud my judgment!" he tried to retaliate, although Rentarō had his own arguments against those.
Rentarō: "NO! If you're her father then it's your responsibility to shelter her, to defend her, even when the entire world and society turns against her! It's because of the fact that you're her parent that you have this duty towards her! You should have protected her and her future!" this boy was really starting to piss him off, even further than before.
Masahiko: "Future? What future?! Even in the event that she'll never turn into a Gastrea again, for the rest of her life, what future is there to protect anymore?!" suddenly he began shifting the topic into a completely new direction.
Masahiko: "Her face was publicly broadcast on the news! Everybody knows now that she's just the Cursed Child that turned into a monster and infected others! Even if she'll prove to everyone else that she's stable now, who the hell do you think will still feel comfortable enough to have her around anymore?!" he began speaking in an even more derogatory manner.
Masahiko: "Unless you're planning on leaving the country, I don't see good outcomes for her future! What school will you transfer her into, now that they all know what happened to her previous one? Will there be any schools in this city that can get away with enrolling her? Especially since any teacher, classmate or janitor working there will be seeing her face on a day by day basis?" he did have a point.
Enju hated to admit it but he was obviously speaking the truth, even with all the obvious malice that he was excreting with each word that was exiting his mouth.
Masahiko: "Or how about a job? After turning into a Gastrea, what civil office will have the courage of hiring her to help them in battle? And what other job will she ever have, now that everyone else knows how she looks like?" seeing Enju's depressed face, Rentarō couldn't help but pity the poor girl in his arms.
Rentarō: "That….doesn't matte-…." he tried to reply but was interrupted.
Masahiko: "Or, better yet, who will marry her?! Who would be foolish enough to be willing to sleep with her in the same bed at night when she could literally eat them alive, were she to transform again! Even if that were to never happen, who would take that risk? And, of course, who would conceive a baby with her if she could just pass the virus down to their own offspring if the virus still exists in her body!" he was making some very good arguments.
Rentarō was having a hard time discussing with him. He was clearly so biased against Cursed Children that no amount of logic would change his ways. He was almost sure of that.
Masahiko: "Because of this pathetic and miserable future that's awaiting her ahead, you're willing to endanger humanity, you little piece of trash! THIS is the child you're trying to protect! Kinda puts things into perspective, doesn't it?" he dealt the finishing blow.
It was harsh, indeed, but it was a very sober return to reality.
Enju was feeling sick, not just because of the surrounding Varanium's magnetic influence on her body; she was feeling sick at the pure hatred that she was receiving from her very own father. Everything he said made sense but it was still so cold and inhumane.
She wanted to yell back that she still had value, but to what avail? After all, society really was like that and she simply couldn't deny it. Hell, she had witnessed herself that type of discrimination countless times against Cursed Children. How could she expect to be treated any differently?
Enju: "It's OK, Rentarō! You can put me down now!" she began to speak to her partner, in a very sad voice. "He's right! You're risking too much just to make me-…." but the boy deliberately cut her off before she could speak another word.
He began to address her father once again.
Rentarō: "If…..she'll never find another school to accept her, then I'll keep her home and home-school her! I'll teach her everything I know and more!" he insisted on continuing, surprising everyone there with his sheer determination. "If she'll never find a job again then I'll provide for her and make sure she's always satisfied! I'll work day in and day out to earn enough money for both of us!" Masahiko was starting to grimace in disgust at what he was hearing.
Rentarō: "And if there will be no one else willing to take that risk then I'll be there to put a ring on her finger! And I'll be the one who will plant my seed in her womb and have her become a mother, when she'll be old enough!" he shouted proudly, so loudly that it rang loud and clear throughout the entire facility.
At that point, Enju's face was red enough from all that blushing that she felt like she was about to faint from the amount of blood rushing through her cheeks.
Enju: "That….that's a bit too much, Rentarō…." she sheepishly commented, her face burning from the embarrassment that he was subjecting her to.
Her father was not only horrified, he was disgusted.
Masahiko: "….you truly are hopeless…." he commented one last thing before he aimed at Enju yet again, who was now in Rentarō's arms. He was close to done talking with them. Clearly there was nothing more to clarify.
Masahiko: "Rentarō Satomi-san, you clearly have a sick attraction to my daughter!" he began speaking again to them, although this time in a more disconnected tone emotionally. "I acknowledge your love for her! And, as her father, I can only go so far as to give you two my blessings!" after fixing his rifle on the proper position for the target, he began to breathe heavily.
Masahiko: "You can both be happy together, IN HELL!" he then finally pressed the trigger all the way down, finally firing a bullet from his hiding spot into Enju's right shoulder blade.
The girl yelled in pain, feeling her entire being bathed in a wave of pure excruciating suffering, her body yelling in despair.
The man, having missed her skull just barely, cursed mentally before repositioning his gun again to shoot a second time, adjusting for his error.
He did fix the aim properly that time, although by the time he pushed the trigger, Rentarō had already instinctively covered the girl's skull with his right arm, while also lowering his right elbow below her neck, to cover her heart from behind and a portion of her left lung.
The second bullet landed right in the backside of his right palm, clashing violently with the Varanium in it. The impact was strong enough to force his hand backwards, pushing Enju into him very intensely, even forcing him to slide backwards as well due to the kinetic energy but the metal in that limb was strong enough to successfully deflect the projectile away from its original target.
This, clearly, left Masahiko completely baffled.
Masahiko: "What the….?!" he stared, bewildered, not knowing the true nature of Rentarō's right arm and the fact that it was made out of Varanium. This metal limb was what saved them both.
Rentarō, seeing how Masahiko had given up on peaceful talks, immediately retreated back to take cover, with the girl in his arms, while the older man from afar was trying to take in what had transpired before his very eyes and tried to understand why his bullet hadn't penetrated its target as it should have.
Rentarō, after making sure the spot he had chosen was safe, placed his hand over Enju's wound, trying to cover the bleeding that was occurring.
She was breathing heavily, as well as losing blood because of the bullet which was now embedded into her bone.
Rentarō: "Crap….this isn't good! Her injury isn't healing itself! The Varanium is preventing her from repairing her body!" he noted what he had already suspected would have happened. That entire building was very toxic for Enju's constitution and, now that she was gravely injured, she risked dying there.
Granted, her father had missed her vital organs by just a little, but she was still in a very bad shape.
Kisara: "Rentarō, go take Enju out and call an ambulance! I'll stay behind and cover you two!" the woman tried to order him, although the boy knew full well that she wasn't capable of keeping true to her promise.
Kisara was a swordswoman and a martial artist, but nothing more. She had only her long katana as her weapon, which meant that she would bring very little advantage to their mostly range-based battleground.
Rentarō: "We can't retreat now! He's only going to come after us and hunt us down!" he responded very annoyed, as he took off his coat and placed the girl onto it on the ground, to at least shield her a bit from the concrete floor below.
He then ripped his shirt and used that to tie the fabric around her wound, to at least slightly slow down her intense bleeding.
She was breathing very heavily, an instinctive reaction of her body to try to engulf as much oxygen as possible from her environment to provide to her regenerating cells.
Enju: "Please….leave me! Just…..save yourselves!" she tried to urge them, between heavy breaths, still thinking of her friends more than herself.
Rentarō: "That's not happening, Enju!" he tried to help her, refusing to just allow her to die and still clinging at every shred of hope he could muster. "I'm sorry! We might have to kill your father!" he told her very seriously, not even cracking a smile to ease up the tension.
The girl just nodded, measly, as as sign that she was understanding what he was telling her.
Rentarō: "Don't worry! I'm not leaving your side! Just, please try to stay alive for a little longer! Do you think you can do that?" he tried to calm her, although she was still obviously very agitated.
Enju: "My right arm is very numb and my shoulder is burning! I don't think I can use it at the moment! But OK!" she tried to put on a brave face to at least make her Promoter be able to concentrate on what he had to do.
Rentarō: "Hang in there, partner!" he then used his mirror to see if he could finally locate her father.
Now the situation reversed: they were the ones running out of time. They needed to take Enju to the hospital as soon as possible if they had any hopes of saving her but they were now trapped in that facility.
If they tried to bolt for the door then Masahiko would probably aim at them and shoot them down the moment they exited their covers.
With the girl bleeding heavily on the floor and in clear pain, they were running out of options. Although, the only silver lining of that situation is that Rentarō could very loosely estimate Masahiko's position from the trajectory that the bullets had come from when he had attempted to kill her just a few moments prior. And, by further focusing his mirror into that direction, he had only a few spots where he thought Enju's father was hiding behind.
Now, the question was how they were going to turn the tides of the battle in their favor.
Seeing how this was not going to be easy for anyone, the boy began to inspect his surroundings and see if there were any pieces of equipment that they could use to their advantage. In a processing plant as large as that one, there were many large machines scattered around everywhere that they could use as cover. Maybe finding an appropriate path among them until they reach the exit was the best way to escape?
It was a huge gamble but it was still better than nothing.
As the boy continued to survey what was in view from his spot, he noticed many steel pipes of large radii in very many places, with pressure meters attached and with some of the needles on the meters indicating that there was a fluid traveling through them.
The boy tried to imagine what type of substances could be used in that setting and whether such fluids could be of any use to them. He wasn't very knowledgeable about such technical details and that entire building was very alien to him so he didn't have very high hopes of figuring it out but he still tried.
~Flashback~
Sumire: "Specifically, it describes the process of using twin-fluid steam atomizers to fragment steel!"
~End of flashback~
He recalled that specific line from Sumire when she had talked to him just a couple of hours ago.
Rentarō: "Twin-fluid steam atomizers, huh?" he then wondered if the reason there was so much piping in that place was because they needed pressurized steam to use in their atomization process. Given the fact that this facility was right next to a large river, it didn't feel that unbelievable to think that steam was the fluid that was being transported through them.
Rentarō: "Steam…..if it's really steam then….maybe we can obstruct Masahiko's view?" steam is inherently opaque, particularly when concentrated, which could, theoretically, be used to cloud that entire facility's interior. Given that Masahiko's only advantage over them was the fact that he was snipping at them from a distance, them blocking his aim with concentrated steam that would fog the entire area could maybe allow them to then force him out in the open.
Still, that entailed that they would still need to break open the pipes that had the fluid flowing through them to release it into the open air. And that meant they had to distract Masahiko to keep him from shooting them somehow while doing just that.
Rentarō: "There's only one way to do that…." he mentally realized before he began gesticulating towards Kisara who was standing behind her own cover and gaining her attention.
They were both hiding behind large machinery and, due to this, Masahiko couldn't see what they were gesticulating to each other. Rentarō used this to his advantage to covertly tell Kisara via hand signs what he wanted her to do.
He made hand signs that signified the pipes and then he changed the shape to that of a pressure indicator with a needle, to inform her that she should focus only on those pipes that actually had fluid flowing through them.
The girl kept on nodding, realizing exactly what he wanted her to know. Once he had conveyed his less than brilliant plan to her, he then gripped his gun very tightly, preparing mentally for what he was about to do.
He took another glance towards Enju on the floor, who was still doing her best to maintain rhythmic breathing, although just barely.
Rentarō: "Here goes nothing…" he thought to himself before he suddenly exited without any forewarning from his cover and aiming towards the area he had suspected Masahiko to be hiding in. He began shooting Black Bullets mindlessly in that general direction to force the man to pay close attention to him, as Kisara immediately afterwards jumped out of her own hiding spot and began lunging towards whichever piping she could visually detect, also making sure to pass behind as many solid metal obstacles as possible to use as covers.
Masahiko, not realizing what they were planning, decided to focus on Rentarō who was shooting pretty close to him and ignore the teenage girl for now, especially since she was skillfully passing behind covers too frequently and he wouldn't be able to stop her very easily.
Masahiko: "You little worm!" he responded to his bullets by shooting at him as well, although the boy cleverly took cover back before he could actually manage to land any hit.
Rentarō: "Crap….this isn't the best spot to shoot from….If only I could change positions…." he took another glance back at Enju, realizing how dangerous a move that would be. Yes, he could try to find a better spot to shoot from and cover for Kisara but that would also mean leaving Enju behind while she was defenseless like that. Given how obsessed Masahiko seemed to be with killing her, that would pose a great risk to her well-being.
Rentarō: "No….I can't leave her when she's like that...I need to find another way…." he tried to reconsider before suddenly exiting his cover again to shoot at her father, to force his attention away from Kisara again and not give him the chance to aim at her.
His hand gun, while not as powerful as Masahiko's sniper rifle, especially not at long range, was small enough to easily maneuver and to quickly play with when exiting and immediately re-entering cover, which suited Rentarō's situation really well. Masahiko, on the other hand, had a very specialized weapon that didn't allow him to easily switch from one target to the next. It was large, bulky, and had enough recoil to require properly fixing in one spot. Consequently, he couldn't try to aim both at Kisara and then at Rentarō very easily, meaning that he had to choose only one of them to focus on, such a fact clearly irritating him and also serving as a reason why he couldn't attempt to murder Kisara at all.
Masahiko: "You think you're funny, you little shit?! I'm going to bury you in cement in my backyard once I'm done with you! Nobody will ever find your remains!" with his composure now lost, Masahiko was just senselessly spouting ramblings in an attempt to distract the boy and force him to make a mistake. Rentarō was not going to allow himself to be so easily manipulated though.
Rentarō: "I'd be a bit more cautious with my wording if I were in your shoes! Your daughter can hear you!" he replied, still trying to find the perfect timing for when to exit his cover again and shoot.
Kisara, in the meantime, was rushing through the facility, passing by as many pipes with pressure meters as she could. Whenever she would find one, she would quickly use Tendō martial arts to rupture it with her sword, forcing hot pressurized steam out.
Masahiko: "Kids like you…..are fucking incompetent! It's due to people like you that didn't do their jobs properly that Sakura had to die! If that Gastrea had never attacked us back then, or if someone was there at that time to save us, none of this would have had to happen! My wife would still be alive, my poor daughter would have been born healthy and uninfected and we would have been a happy family! I would not have needed to go to prison, nor Enju would have had to live most of her life in that Initiator facility! Everything would have been perfect!" he shot another couple of shots at where Rentarō was hiding, missing him by just a bit.
Masahiko: "I really wanted a happy family! I didn't need any of this shit to happen to me! I didn't! For fuck's sake!" he continued to waste ammo pointlessly, now just firing at Rentarō with such frequency that the boy couldn't even exit his cover anymore, resigning to stay behind and just wait his enemy to simply run out of bullets.
Rentarō: "Stop talking like a hypocrite!" the boy began to speak, finally noticing a fog beginning to build up in that area very slowly, a testament to Kisara's hard work. "It was you who chose to murder your wife in her last moments, instead of comforting her! And it was because you tried to kill your own daughter that they had to take Enju away from you and put you in prison! Instead of handling the tragedy like a grown man and trying to save your family, you only ended up burying them even further!" seeing as how they were now speaking with no reservations anymore, he decided to stop holding back and state his opinion of the older man out loud.
He didn't want to be this frank, especially since he knew Enju was in such pain on the floor, squirming. He was still her father he was talking about, after all. And yet, at that point, he lost his temper as well and couldn't help it anymore.
However, the shooting stopped all of a sudden.
Surprised, Rentarō used his pocket mirror yet again to check the spot that Masahiko used to shoot from and, indeed, he could still see from that angle his rifle still pointing conspicuously in his area. Apparently Masahiko ran out of bullets. Either that or he tried to catch his breath.
Masahiko: "Pardon me for sacrificing them for the safety of Tokyo! You should take notes, Promoter! I did something which you wouldn't be able to do even in your dreams!" he commented slightingly.
Rentarō did not respond to that provocation and simply maintained his ground.
Masahiko: "I couldn't risk allowing my family to infect others too! Nobody should have to go through what I went through myself! Why is that a sin?!" he cried, his voice still seething with madness and hatred deeply ingrained in it. "My grandfather fought in the Second World War against the Americans! And do you have any idea what orders he would receive regularly? Or what were the last orders of his platoon?!" the boy didn't know where his story was going and he didn't even want to entertain him by answering his questions. Instead, he simply continued hiding, only keeping his mirror towards that particular spot to make sure that Masahiko was still hiding in that place. From his view, the older man was still keeping his rifle aimed at him motionlessly.
Masahiko: "Soldiers would regularly receive orders that required them to put their lives on the line very frequently! Hell, there were aircraft pilots that were asked to fly their planes into enemy ships along with explosive cargo to annihilate them! Those people would give their lives away for this very country, without a second thought, without any doubts and with a dedicated heart! It was absolutely beautiful! Nobody would question it, nor fight it. They knew what their roles to society were and they all knew how to put the needs of their nation above their own!" he continued to berate very passionately as the teenage boy was patiently trying to not pay the man too much attention.
Rentarō maintained his ground, trying to calm himself down and focus. He needed to shoot at just the right time, when Masahiko wouldn't be expecting him to shoot back but also when the latter was exposed. In these circumstances, timing was key.
Masahiko: "And yet nowadays…..nowadays you can't find reliable people at all, even in workplaces where they really are required to be extremely vigilant. You can't even make a simple sacrifice for the greater good of humanity, much less be expected to have any semblance of honor in what you do; a sacrifice of someone who isn't even a member of your own family and for whom you should have no emotional attachment whatsoever!" suddenly, Enju, even while on the ground, began to shake a bit harder and began to speak up very weakly, as most of the energy in her body had been sapped already.
Enju: "Rentarō! Lookout!" she tried to warn, although with a way lower voice than intended.
The younger man still got the message, though, although he didn't react in time before metal slammed against his left cheek.
The teenage boy was knocked out of balance and fell onto the ground, the impact having been enough to make half his face feel numb.
Masahiko: "Pathetic….." was his conclusion to that excessive rant as the man began to approach the boy who was now on the floor, completely astounded.
Rentarō: "I….kept watch over you with my mirror! How did you get down here from your spot so fast?!" he glared at his enemy vindictively.
Masahiko: "I used a hologram to project an image of myself hiding there! You didn't even notice it, did you? While you were focusing on a stationary image of myself in the distance, I quietly approached you from behind!" he then smashed the brass knuckles that he was wearing against each other and then he assaulted the boy on the floor, with the intent of smashing his face in with those metallic accessories.
But just as he was close enough to land another heavy hit against Rentarō's face, the latter raised his Varanium leg and used the propulsion engine behind it to blast the incoming attacker away from him. Masahiko fell backwards, stumbling.
Masahiko: "FUCK YOU!" he yelled very agitated, realizing how most of the frontal parts of his suit had been disintegrated by that unexpected blast.
Rentarō then got back on his feet, still shaken a bit at the impact that he had received on his head and spitting blood from his mouth.
Rentarō: "That's where you're wrong! Enju is my family!" he then rushed towards his own pistol to grab it quickly but Masahiko threw another smoke bomb right in front of him before he could get to it.
The bomb exploded and engulfed the boy in a very thick cloud of smoke that only added to the still-thickening fog that was being generated by the pipes that Kisara was still actively damaging.
Rentarō: "CRAP!" he yelled very annoyed, trying to feel around on the floor for his gun as Masahiko quickly approached him and attempted to hit him with his brass knuckles once again, although the boy was prepared this time and easily evaded his blows.
Masahiko: "You knew that I had the advantage because of my rifle and you sought to use steam to interfere with my vision. Pretty clever, I will admit!" because of the lack of visibility due to the smoke screen that still didn't fully dissipate, he was flailing his fists aimlessly as the boy, very accustomed to combat, easily dodged all of his attacks.
Rentarō: "I do what I can!" he sarcastically replied before managing a hit himself and forcing his Varanium fist into the older man's face. That force was enough to launch him backwards and into the ground below.
Rentarō then began to tackle him on the ground, trying to restrain him.
Masahiko: "What the hell?! How do you have so much muscle?!" it was downright impressive how this one teenager could overpower a grown man like that with such ease; and it wasn't because of technique as Masahiko made sure to enter a pose that would place a lot of strain to restrain against. What Rentarō was displaying was pure force.
Rentarō: "I don't!" he refused to explain any more, feeling that it would be pointless to reveal to his enemy about his metallic limbs that was giving him his artificial strength boost.
Masahiko couldn't get back out of his grip, his own force being insufficient to escape the boy's grasp.
As Rentarō tried to maintain his hold on the man, he failed to notice another person sneaking behind him yet again.
Fujitake: "DIE!" out of nowhere, this other man approached from behind with an electrified metal rod in his arms and touched Rentarō from behind with it. The electricity forced all the muscles in his body to jolt and that lack of coordination allowed Masahiko to finally push him off and throw him flat on the floor.
The boy struggled to get back up but Fujitake zapped him again with the same rod as before, not allowing him to get back on his feet.
The boy used his Varanium limb to grab onto the said rod and instantaneously applied pressure onto it with his enhanced strength to break it apart.
Fujitake: "Damn….this guy is strong…" he backed off when he realized that his trick wasn't going to work another time.
Masahiko: "As he should be given his job. At least that part of him is competent…." the older man exclaimed before grabbing Rentarō's own pistol off the ground and pulling the safety off.
Masahiko: "I can't say it's been a pleasure knowing you, Satomi! But at least this one moment will give me joy!" he aimed at the boy who was still on the floor.
Rentarō was preparing to use the engine in his Varanium leg to propel himself away before he could shoot but, surprisingly for him, a different outcome occurred.
Enju: "Don't you dare!" the child suddenly intervened, jumping right between her father and the wounded boy. Her right arm was still limping and she couldn't force it to raise as it should have but she did extend the left one up into the air to signal a "STOP" motion with her body.
She was still shaking a bit and despite the very dead-serious look on her face, she was clearly very weak and incapable of fighting.
Enju: "I don't care what you say to me! I don't care what you think of me! Hell, I don't even care that you murdered mom!" she began speaking while displaying a face filled with hatred but also with determination intermixed with it.
Enju: "But if you touch even a single hair off of Rentarō's body, I will tear you apart limb by limb! Mark my words!" even though she could barely keep her balance, even though she was breathing heavily in-between saying those words and even though she had a pistol that should have been filled with Black Bullets pointed straight into her chest, she did not budge even slightly, looking at her father with so much venom in her eyes that the man couldn't believe that this vengeful creature in front of him was the same one that had been sheepishly mumbling to him about her past just a couple of days ago when they had first met.
Masahiko: "….and what do you expect to accomplish when you're like this? You wouldn't even be able to hold on your own, never mind protect someone else!" her father saw through her brave bluff immediately, not even flinching at that.
Given how pale the girl even looked, he doubted she could pose any threat to either him or to Fujitake. Given the situation, she was now just as weak as any ten year old girl; hell, maybe even weaker seeing how she looked like she was about to tip over and face-plant the floor.
Kisara: "Maybe she wouldn't right now. But we would!" and just before anything else could happen, a sudden female voice rang from a couple of meters away, in the distance as she was slowly approaching them, with her sword drawn. Next to her was a young blond man as well with what seemed to be razors on his fists.
Kisara: "You left your defensive position and decided to turn to melee combat when you saw us pollute the air with steam. Bad mistake! Almost all of us are specialized for melee fighting!" she then proved her point by suddenly pointing her sword at the duo, glaring at them very heavily. "Now….you're also outnumbered!".
Masahiko: "I told you to capture her! What the hell did you do?!" the older man began yelling at the younger one, who was flabbergasted.
Fujitake: "I caught her in my trap! She shouldn't have been able to escape! This other guy must have been the one to break her free!" he tried to defend himself as Tamaki then took the spotlight.
Tamaki: "You didn't think it'd be just the two of them storming this facility, did you? Also, the traps you set up here are pretty petty, you know?" he commented smugly before also adopting an offensive stance, letting them know that he was prepared to enter combat against them at any moment.
Tamaki: "While you were here sparring with your army rifle, I was in the back disarming your little toys! Oh and I also took care of that little lab coat fellow that was prepping them for launch! He didn't pose too much of a threat…." Fujitake and Masahiko looked at each other, with very worried looks on their faces, as it finally dawned onto them that they had failed in their little project.
Kisara: "It's over! Just give up! At this point there's nothing more you can do!" given this pretty depressing situation, it was about time for all of this to end finally.
Fujitake threw an extremely concerned look at Masahiko, knowing full well that they were now in big trouble.
Fujitake: "…..what now, boss?" he asked in a very anxious tone, although Masahiko did not reply immediately.
They both knew that they wouldn't be able to overpower the three Promoters that were there. And now that their drones had been disabled, they had no bargaining chip to negotiate their way out of that conundrum either; which meant that they were now at the mercy of that group of kids now.
Enju: "It's over, father! Drop Rentarō's gun! You're not getting out of this!" she stated very calmly, letting the man know that he was going to lose.
Masahiko: "Enju…." the man said very lowly, very disappointed that the scheme that he had worked so hard on ended up failing so miserably.
He looked into his daughter's eyes, only seeing the almost unnoticeable red tint in them that he had grown to despise more and more over the years.
It was when noticing that strange coloration in her eyes that he was reminded of his past, when he had noticed those accursed eyes looking back at him happily from baby Enju back when she had been freshly born and when he had been holding her in his arms lovingly many years ago.
It was those eyes that drove him insane.
Masahiko: "If I cannot rid this city of all these little pests….then I might as well rid it of the one pest that I am responsible for!" and then he simply raised Rentaro's gun into the air once again, preparing to shoot at the child who was blocking his aim to shield Rentarō. "DIE, VERMIN!" but before he could press the trigger, he was showered in bullets from a distance from an unexpected spot: one of Tina's own flying drones had been hiding in the corner that entire time, having been aiming at that man ever since he had picked up Rentarō's gun to shoot at him.
The bullets went into his back, aiming for his spinal cord, literally gunning him down as he fell.
Enju, horrified, stared at her own paternal figure just crash face down and become lifeless before her very eyes. Tears began to run down her small cheeks.
Enju: "Why?! What did I do to you to earn this much hatred?! Wasn't killing mom enough for you?!" she broke down into tears once again, miserable that she had witnessed the death of her own father.
Kisara: "Good job, Tina! You did very well!" the girl spoke into her transponder, praising her Initiator for that helpful assist.
Tina: "Acknowledged!" came the monotone and almost mechanical response from the girl on the other end.
Fujitake, now surrounded by people who he now knew were capable of killing him if need be, began panicking.
Fujitake: "How the hell?! I didn't even notice that flying drone with all this fog! How could that thing even aim when there's steam everywhere?" he began yelling in desperation although Kisara just began approaching him slowly with her sword, to make sure he wasn't going to make a dash towards the exit to escape.
Kisara: "Tina's drones are military! They are equipped with infrared sensors so that she can effectively detect targets in the middle of the night! This little fog of ours doesn't even come close to be a nuisance for her!" she stated matter of factly, still keeping a very attentive eye on his body motions.
Fujitake knew he was screwed now.
Tamaki: "You shouldn't have messed with us, civil officers!" seeing how late in the action they were, it felt very pointless to say that now but Fujitake still took note of that.
Rentarō also rose back up, and approached the crying Enju on the floor to see if she was still bleeding as heavily as before from the bullet that had landed in her bone previously.
Rentarō: "I'm sorry you had to see that, Enju…" he embraced the girl, trying to comfort her. This must have been traumatizing for her, given how she had barely managed to bond with Masahiko for a measly couple of days.
Enju: "It's unfair, Rentarō! I didn't do anything bad to him! Why does everybody hate m-…" but she couldn't even finish that one sentence as the man in question suddenly rose off the floor in the quickest most unexpected way, surprising everyone there.
Masahiko: "DIEEE!" he yelled, immediately robbing the attention of both Kisara and Tamaki, who had been focusing on Fujitake up until that point.
Kisara: "LOOKOUT, RENTARŌ!" she tried to warn the boy, who immediately turned around to shield the girl from the assailant who seemingly had just rose back from the dead without any explanation.
Masahiko suddenly pulled from his suit a small army knife to stab his daughter with but was blocked by Rentarō who came in between them, trying to stop him. As a consequence, Masahiko planted the knife inside Rentarō's right side, just under his rib cage.
Rentarō: "ARGHHH!" he yelled as the small pocket weapon pierced through his skin and grazed against his liver, as it went inside. "FUCK!" he couldn't contain the pain and could barely maintain his composure enough to stop himself from crying.
The amount of pain was insurmountable and his entire body felt like it was aching as a wave of hurting felt like it began spreading from his liver to the entire right side of his being, radiating in the most painful way imaginable.
Masahiko: "OUT OF MY WAY, YOU PUNK!" he tried to shove the now incapacitated teenager out of the way to get to his daughter, him pulling the knife out of his body and, after moving Rentarō's body away from the girl from behind, he tried to stab her as well before Kisara finally closed in enough to decapitate him with her katana.
His body and head fell on the ground, now separated and with a huge gush of blood beginning to fly all over the place from his carotid arteries, beginning to pool around them.
Rentarō, holding onto his side and with an ever-growing stain of blood beginning to rise from his wound, limped forward a bit and then collapsed on the floor as well, cursing his own ineptitude for having allowed his guard down.
Kisara: "RENTARŌ!" she yelled in despair, overwhelmed by that entire situation, tears beginning to form in her eyes as well.
It was almost too much for her to believe. For the first time in a long time, Rentarō had been severely wounded, and the culprit was just an ordinary human who had simply proved to be very cunning.
Tamaki: "I'm calling an ambulance!" the man opened his phone and began frantically entering the emergency number.
Kisara: "Wait! What about Fujitake?! I don't see him anymore!" she suddenly realized, although Tamaki ignored her panic attack now.
Tamaki: "He escaped! But it doesn't matter! He won't get too far anyway!" he brushed her off, before pulling the phone to his ear to begin speaking to the emergency operator on the other end.
~Prömödas AB, exterior of the building~
The young man finally pulled the door wide open with a rush of adrenaline still surging through his veins. He then made a dash towards the street in the middle of the night, panting excessively and barely managing to contain his anxiety.
Fujitake: "I'm out! Now all I need to do is get the hell out of here! Screw this shit, the fucking Cursed brats aren't worth all this fucking trou-…." but he couldn't even finish his thought as a large bullet that suddenly penetrated his skull stopped all neuronal activity and immediately shut his body down in less than a second. The man fell onto the pavement flat, now his body becoming lifeless, with minor involuntary jolts going through him for another couple of seconds before turning completely motionless.
From a nearby tall building, a particular blonde child was staring at the now deceased individual through binoculars, thinking to herself how unfortunately grim this entire operation turned.
Yuzuki: "Geez, way to pull out the last resort plan! Didn't Rentarō just tell us to kill them only if we had no other option?" she thought to herself, feeling a bit stressed out at how eager Tina was to just snipe at the perpetrators without any second thoughts at all.
But when Yuzuki looked at her partner who was still holding her rifle very professionally, she noticed how Tina just licked her lips uncharacteristically out of nowhere.
Tina: "Yummy…" she said in almost a whisper as she was still eyeing the body below through her rifle's scope.
Yuzuki: "?! 'Yummy'?! What the hell do you mean by 'yummy'?!" now she was officially creeped out, not even capable of beginning to comprehend what must have been going through Tina's mind when she had killed that man.
Tina: "Oh….sorry! I forgot you were standing there!" she replied nonchalantly, and also unapologetically. Yuzuki just stared at her, with a traumatized face. "Don't worry! It's my weird thing! I say that whenever I successfully dispatch my targets! Just….don't think too much about it! I don't!" she casually said, as Yuzuki took a step back, increasing the distance between them slightly.
Yuzuki: "Sometimes….you creep me out, kid!"
~Tokyo Emergency hospital, room 224, intensive care ward, two days later~
Groggy would be the best way to describe herself. She felt the anesthesia-induced sleep that she was finally waking up from was giving her a horrible headache. Even so, despite all the painkillers that had been pumped into her, she could still feel intense and relentless pain coming from the shoulder that had been penetrated by that bullet a couple of days ago.
Wait….bullet….she remembered.
Enju: "RENTARŌ!" she yelled all of a sudden, springing in a sitting position from her sleep in less than a second and showing a panicked face, even waking Kisara up from her sleep.
Kisara: "What the…" the woman sitting on a chair next to her bed was savagely pulled out of her sleep by that outburst, her not having expected such a rude reaction from the girl.
Enju immediately ended up regretting her decision afterwards, though, as the pain from her shoulder just increased ten fold when she had jolted it so suddenly, and that was enough to make her yell and grab her shoulder with her healthy hand.
Enju: "Ouch ouch ouch ouch ouch…." she cried childishly, barely capable of containing the incredible amounts of physical suffering that she was enduring.
Kisara: "Take it easy! You're still recovering from surgery!" the woman next to her tried to calm her down, seeing how she was very agitated.
Enju: "Kisara-san?!" she finally noticed the other presence next to her, as well as the IV bag that was dripping liquid into her right arm and the hospital bed that she was sitting in.
That made her question what had happened.
Enju: "How…..did I get here?!" obviously that was going to be the first thing that exited her mouth. "And where is Rentarō?!" suddenly, memories of what had happened at the processing plant began flooding her consciousness and she recalled almost everything that had occurred, at least to a point.
Kisara: "Calm down! Everything's fine! Please try to relax before you do more damage to yourself than you already have!" she needed to get the situation back under control before Enju would start inadvertently forcing her gunshot wound open again. That was obviously a very dangerous thing that they should avoid at all costs.
Enju: "….." she tried to heed her warning and began to breathe heavily again, choosing to listen to Kisara's advice, especially since she was already in so much pain. "It...still hurts a lot!" she continued but allowed Kisara to gently pull her body back into her pillow to relax.
Kisara: "You're currently at the hospital! You blacked out after I killed your father due to the blood loss! Thankfully an ambulance arrived very soon afterwards and brought you here for an emergency surgery to extract the bullet that was still in your body!" she began to explain everything slowly, narrating all the events that the girl had missed.
Kisara: "From what I heard, the procedure went by smoothly, although your shoulder blade was still obviously fractured from the impact! They had to stitch you up a bit and gave you a lot of painkillers and anesthesia to help you cope with it. I'm glad you managed to recover consciousness, at least!" the girl wasn't very happy to hear any of this, still very perturbed by what had happened but a bit thankful that she was even alive after all of this.
Enju: "How long have I been in here?" she then moved on to what seemed to be the next logical thread to follow.
Kisara: "Two days. As soon as your body exited the surgery room, they placed you on this bed to recover, administering nutrients into your body via IV. They also had some trouble because of the blood loss you suffered and, especially after the surgery, you were in a very bad shape. The doctors were very worried that you might not make it out alive!" the more this conversation was going, the more dreadful Enju was feeling. "I'm sure you know that Cursed Children are among the last candidates to be chosen for a blood donation.
Enju: "Oh…..then….will I die?" she sheepishly questioned, although the fact that Kisara was so calm evidently meant that the answer to that was a negative.
Kisara: "No….I already donated blood for you!" she clarified, letting the girl know that she was in no more danger currently.
Enju: "Oh…." she was taken aback by this. This was the first time Kisara had ever done anything like this. And, given her condition, it was surprising that she even could do such a thing in the first place. "But….how could you even do that? Didn't you hav-…." but she was cut off.
Kisara: "Yes, I know what you want to say. And no, normally I should not have been able to donate blood, given my kidney problems. But I managed to convince the nurses to still allow me to help out. I underwent dialysis just before they began extracting the blood from me so it should be fine!" she tried to reassure, although Enju was still naturally very worried.
Kisara: "It just so happens that I'm blood type O and you are blood type A! I'm a universal donor! Who would have thought?" she smiled a weak smile. The fact that Kisara had risked her life so much just to keep her alive was testament to the fact that Enju's father had been wrong.
There were still people in this world that cared for her, even though she had done those horrible things in the past.
Enju broke into tears when hearing this. Her friends were still there for her, even in her worst moments. She was very fortunate indeed.
Enju: "Thank you, Kisara-san! Thank you for everything you and Rentarō did for me!" she tried to show as much appreciation as she could, seeing how indebted she now was to everyone who had saved her.
Enju: "Wait….I almost forgot! Rentarō! Where is he? Is he still…?" she couldn't even finish that sentence. Even the mere thought that Rentarō may not have been there with them anymore was just too much for her to bear.
Kisara: "(sigh) Rentarō…..is a bit worse than you are right now…" she didn't know how to sugarcoat this, considering how unpleasant the situation they were in still was. She wanted to give her good news but that wasn't easy.
Kisara: "Your father…..he stabbed Rentarō in the abdomen just before I killed him. Rentarō had to undergo surgery as well to have the damaged part of his liver extracted to stop the internal bleeding. Right now he's still under sedatives to numb his pain. He's been out for most of the day…." she exclaimed regretfully but while still trying to maintain a composed and mostly professional attitude about this.
Enju wasn't sure how to take this news, though.
Enju: "I want to see him!" she looked very demanding at her boss, not even a hint of the usual humor she would have in her voice. Kisara was very impressed with the amount of dedication that she displayed.
Kisara: "No!" even though she was impressed, she still immediately shattered the young girl's dreams without any second thoughts.
Enju: "Why?" naturally, the redhead wasn't about to give up just like that.
Ksara: "Rentarō needs to sleep to recover from his surgery. They said that they won't allow anyone in his room at the moment. He needs rest!" she stated very sternly, letting the girl know that she wasn't joking either about this grim situation.
Kisara: "Besides, your fracture is still not closed! You need to stay in place to have it heal properly! No moving around!" it wasn't often when Kisara was this demanding and rigid with Enju, but this was one of those times when the situation really did demand for her to be inflexible.
Enju: "Why?! My body should have healed by now, right? I'm not anymore in that weird processing plant with Varanium surrounding me, am I?" but just as she tried to flex the muscles in her wounded arm to have it move, she felt more jolts of extremely mind numbing pain assault her brain, with such intense suffering almost blanking out her entire mind.
Kisara: "Stop doing that! No! You're not healed yet!" seeing her stubborn side in action and then her immediately regretting it instantly afterwards was a bit funny, for all the wrong reasons.
Enju: "But why?! My powers should have made me recover by now! Two days should be more than enough for that!" she tried to reason. The reasoning was pretty sound, admittedly, but reality was not conforming to Enju's expectations in the least.
Kisara: "I know….we all know, believe me! But the doctors kept on running scans of your fracture these past days and they found that your wounds aren't healing as fast as they should be! Your powers don't seem to work anymore, most likely because of your exposure to the Varanium in that place! It seems like, right now, you're just as vulnerable as any girl your age would be! A regular girl, that is!" she explained dully, with Enju almost disbelieving everything that she was hearing.
Enju: "No….you can't be serious!" she wanted for that to be a lie, or a joke but, sadly, it obviously wasn't.
Kisara: "I'm sorry…..I really am!" she tried to console the poor child who was in clear pain but Enju wasn't having any of it. Now, she learned, that even her powers weren't working anymore. Her life was simply turning worse with each passing day apparently.
Enju: "Is there….something still wrong with me? What's happening to my body?!" she tried to ask for answers that Kisara didn't have.
Kisara: "I really wish I knew….I had the doctors here run special tests on you to check your erosion rate again, as well as other markers of infection. We also ran some antibody tests on you to see how well your immune system is coping with the virus. The results should be out in a couple of days…." the woman continued with her revelations as Enju was still feeling very unhappy about this whole situation.
Enju: "How long do they plan to keep me here? Did they say when they plan to discharge me?" realizing that she wasn't going to get any satisfying answers from her regardless of how much she'd keep on pestering, she just resigned herself to her fate and accepted that the situation they were in was simply an unusual one, to say the least. As such, she decided to just change the topic entirely.
Kisara: "The doctors said you are stable enough to be discharged tomorrow! However, they warned that you are not to walk around mindlessly or undergo any physical effort of any kind! I'm afraid you'll have to be bedridden for at least a week until you'll be able to walk around properly again!" that sounded genuinely horrible, especially to an overactive kid like herself.
She made a pouty face at that, already feeling the depression setting back in.
Enju: "But…..if I'll be discharged tomorrow and Rentarō is still recovering from surgery….then who will take care of me when I get back home? Hell, how can I even get home if I won't be able to walk?" she asked very worried, although Kisara tried to ease her tension.
Kisara: "I will!" came the less than climactic response to what should have been an obvious question. "Well….for the most part! I cooked some food for you in advance. Tina will be the one at home with you mostly! I instructed her on how to help you! Also, you will be driven there with an ambulance and then transported on your bed!" that was interesting.
Imagining Tina act as a caregiver was a really odd thought, considering that girl's personality. That really felt like a weird decision.
Enju: "But….what will you be doing then?" again, she continued on the logical thread to see how much information she could get out of this woman.
Kisara: "I'll be staying here, waiting for Rentarō to recover as well!" she kept on giving the girl as much reassuring knowledge as she could convey, to keep her curiosity satiated. "The doctors said that the outcome for his condition is not that great, although it is stable at least! The surgery didn't go as smoothly as yours but they still got to a satisfying conclusion. Apparently, the liver is one of the most self-regenerating organs in the whole body! Provided he maintains a well balanced diet, he's expected to make a nice comeback too! Although he'll have an ugly scar on his abdomen for the rest of his life…." well, if nothing else that was an appeasing piece of news, for a change.
Enju sighed of relief, unbelievably happy to at least learn of that.
Enju: "I'm guessing we won't be fighting any more Gastrea for the time being, will we?" she finally made a joke out of nowhere, actually earning a chuckle from her boss.
Kisara: "That….won't be a problem for the near future! Don't worry!" she probably should have taken this opportunity to reveal to her that Tendō Civil Security had just filed for bankruptcy but she realized that it was more appropriate for Rentarō to fill her in with those details.
Given the amount of bad stuff that had happened in her life, for Enju to also learn that their company was going to stop existing would only be downright criminal at that point.
They continued chatting for a while, trying to discuss the events of the past week and learning a bit more of the overall picture of things, until, suddenly, Kisara brought up an entirely unexpected subject.
Kisara: "Enju….do you want to take in some fresh air? Having been in the same bed for such a long time probably isn't very good for you!" she tried to offer, surprising the girl.
Enju: "Wait, what?" was her natural query after that.
Kisara: "I can ask the nurse to stop the IV and move you into a wheelchair. I can then take you to the roof! The hospital here has a wheelchair helper to allow you get there! They have a very lovely view of the city from the top of the building!" Enju's face finally lit back up with childish optimism at the hearing of that.
Enju: "Wait? I can do that?!" she exploded in pure innocent joy at that.
Kisara: "Yes! I'll go ask her right now!" she then proceeded to do just that.
~Hospital rooftop, half an hour later~
The metallic rusty door was unlocked and opened wide, as the pair made their way through it and onto the large roof that oversaw the entire city.
The nurse who had unlocked the door and followed them up until there, gave them a cheerful smile before retreating and bidding them farewell, handing Kisara the keys to lock the door back once they would be done enjoying the scenery.
Enju: "Oh….this is so pretty!" the child commented very carefree as she took in the view of the distant buildings through the metallic fence that surrounded the rooftop to prevent accidental deaths.
The weather was perfect, mostly sunny and breezy, which made for a very relaxing environment to enjoy this. The mostly glassy windows of the buildings in view were shining back at her eyes, reflecting the light of the sun back on her retinas. It was quite the picturesque scene.
Kisara: "Enju…." the woman suddenly interrupted the girl's enjoyment all of a sudden with an unexpected nervous voice. "I wanted to ask you this since you arrived here at this hospital. I know you probably don't want to talk about this right now but….I think we should have this discussion now rather than later…" she was avoiding the topic awkwardly, aware of how off-putting it promised to be.
Enju, unaware at what she was about to get into, simply responded very unassuming:
Enju: "What?" she clearly wasn't expecting what was to come.
Kisara: "Enju….what exactly is the nature of your relationship with Rentarō?"
Author's notes: only one chapter left to go! Damn, this was hard to write!
Now, most of the plot heavy stuff is finished! From this point on, it'll mostly be fluff! I hope you'll stick around for that as well but, if not, it has been a pleasure! Thank you so much for reading and I'm sorry for this story for turning as dark as it did! I hope you enjoyed reading it just as much as I did writing it (or perhaps even more!).
Have a nice (and safe) new week!