Finally back! Sorry for another long wait.
Destiny and Fate Ch 25
Even while the world was bleak and the sky ominously black, droplets of water particles smashed against the ground and harmonized in their random pattern with the occasional intrusion of the roaring thunder. After exiting the labyrinth of dull concrete and vehicular contraptions, Takeru drifted through the thick forest of precipitating water. His vision was clouded by the dense gray mist and his body endured a pummeling bombardment of raindrops. In addition to the horrendous obstacles, his troubled mentality accelerated the progression of fatigue. Though he intended to head back to Hikari's apartment, his legs hindered him with unbearably heavy weights that resulted from progressing exhaustion and mental confusion. Even while slashing through the seemingly impenetrable climate barrier, he desperately attempted to unearth an escape route from the calamity that would ensue at the end of the year. The threads of fate have already begun to entangle in a complex net. No matter how Takeru sought to unravel them from intertwining, the lock continuously grew tighter just as a spider web that traps a struggling prey.
"Whew…"
Explosion of water drops muffled Takeru's sigh. Unable to discover any solutions, he contemplated whether to abide by Ken's order of eradicating the blessed heir of the esteemed Yagami Corporation.
'What am I thinking?!'
He shook his head violently to shake off the dreadful idea. However, only thing shaken off from him were massive amounts of water on his drenched hair. Despite constant denial, Takeru knew that complying with Ken's order was clearly the most logical choice since it required the least sacrifice. This notion, inhabited in the deepest, darkest depth of his mind, haunted him ceaselessly. Unsuccessful in removing the temptation, Takeru began questioning his own sanity. Battling his own mental self, his physical senses grew dull and led him astray to wherever his weighty legs dragged him. Though many abrupt turns and unmethodical movements hindered him, Takeru managed to finally reach Hikari's home. When he entered the building, went up the elevator, and stood in front of the final door, he was shock to see himself immobile and unable to open it. He feared the situation which Hikari would become aware of the impending catastrophe, not knowing how it would affect her delicate state of mind. Lengthy moments later, his anxiety disappeared when his cool-headedness was restored by evaporation of rainwater on his soaked attire robbing his heat.
'I still got roughly 2 months. I can figure this out.'
Upon returning to his original personality, he washed off the negativity and renewed his resolve to unearth a peaceful conclusion. His palm finally grasped the knob and opened the door. Only an eerily silent, vacant living room welcomed him. He glanced around the room and conjectured that Hikari returned home after noticing the car key back on the key holder. He closed the door behind him and began walking towards the laundry basket while stripping off his soaked shirt. Once he laid the shirt down, he proceeded to remove his pants, but was interrupted when he heard a soft voice calling his name.
"Takeru?"
On the higher level of the room, Hikari stood silent with a hint of relief in her complexion.
"Hey. I'm back."
Takeru smiled brightly at the beautiful girl and spoke on.
"Can't take your eyes off my body, huh?"
Hikari did not bother replying to his statement and walked down to the lower level. While approaching Takeru, she let out a complaint.
"Why do you not pick up your phone?"
"You called?"
He scrambled his hands into the pocket and pulled out his cell phone. He brushed off few water drops from it. After taking one quick glance on the phone screen, he looked back at Hikari and apologized.
"Oh you did. I'm so sorry. Guess I didn't feel the vibration. Please don't shoot me."
A blatant lie exited him. Since the true reasoning behind his ignored call could lead her to his encounter with Ken, he concealed the truth to shield her from distress. It was no work of genius to understand that sharing the details with Hikari would yield only additional negativity. His façade and proficient emotion control rendered any suspicion away and convinced the small girl in front of him.
"You're hopeless… Just go dry yourself and change."
She exhaled a sigh and continued on after.
"Pick up your phone next time. Or else."
Her hands directed where she always carried her gun; her slender, elegant leg just few inches above her knee. With her point made, she turned away and walked back towards her room, giving Takeru enough privacy to change his attire. Upon witnessing her in a passive mood, he found relief that her mood improved from the afternoon. In a slightly lifted mood, he quickly removed his wet clothing and put on his dry home attire in his room. He spent a quick portion of time ridding moisture from his hair and exited his room, hoping to socialize with Hikari. Knowing she would be confiding herself in her room, he immediately headed to her room and knocked on the wooden gate separating him from her.
"Hikari, can I come in?"
Few seconds of silence passed and nothing came from the other side. Worried, he announced his intrusion and turned the knob.
"I'm coming in."
Beyond the turned door, there existed only an unlit room of black darkness, devoid of any life. He took a step inward and visually examined the surrounding, only to find no sight or sign of Hikari within her chamber. He proceeded to inspect directly. However, before he could take another step, he felt a nudge behind his back along with a piercing statement.
"What are you doing in my room?"
Behind him was the owner of the room with her pistol kindly pressed against his back. Takeru immediately delivered an apology.
"I'm sorry. I was just worried about you."
He put his hand up, posing like a criminal caught during his scheme. After a sigh, she removed her gun from him and closed the door in front of Takeru. Then, she grabbed him and turned him around. Now facing each other, she inquired about his attempted visit.
"Did you need something?"
"I needed you."
"…"
Another of his bold, flattering statement turned Hikari speechless. He added on.
"I didn't really get to be with you much today. I missed you."
"…"
Still remaining mute, she escaped his gaze by tilting her head down and staring at the floor. No further words were exchanged for a brief moment. Takeru refrained from excessive showering of compliments and kept his quiet, weary of the incident that separated them at school. Hikari was also weary of the incident earlier. Her mind, however, was more focused on a different, difficult matter she could not express easily. Her body made subtle gestures only detectable when Takeru keenly observed her. With an extensive amount of time passed by, Hikari clenched her fist with determination and looked directly into Takeru's two crystal eyes. She let out a frail voice.
"…I want to talk a little bit…"
"I'm all ears."
With unshaken confidence, he obliged to Hikari's proposal. Then, she lightly grabbed his shirt sleeve and led him down to the living room. When they neared the large couch, she released her delicate grip and sat down together.
"…I…uh…well.."
She struggled to initiate the conversation, mumbling and fidgeting her fingers faintly. Her understanding blonde companion aided her with kind words.
"Let out whatever on your mind freely."
"…Okay…"
Though hindered by a brief moment of reluctance, she soon agreed and began talking.
"I'm so sorry, Takeru."
"About?"
Confused by a sudden apology, he inquired back at her.
"There is something…."
She paused momentarily.
"Something…that you should know…"
"What?"
"You saw me and Taichi… together…few days back at the company party right?"
"Yes."
"We…talked a little bit…"
Takeru remained focused and waited for her to complete her statement patiently and quietly.
"…And we…decided to…."
Another heavy pause filled the room. Then, She clenched her eyes shut and shouted loudly the topic of their conversation.
"We decided to get married!"
As if the sky had waited for it, the clouds collided at that moment and produced a swift blinding flash, instantaneously followed by a deafening clamor that shattered the obsidian sky. It was an inconceivable, unbelievable, unexpected sentence that was no less shocking than his own death sentence. His mind started to numb and his entire mentality was disoriented. Indisputably, her sudden marriage announcement generated a portion of the mental strain. However, it was not the one that forced Takeru to nearly lose himself and strongly tighten his fists in blinding wrath. Should she really proceed to commence such relationship with Taichi, she would experience an unfathomable despair and sorrow upon losing him. It was agonizing just to imagine Hikari wallowing in excruciating grief. This marriage was not at all a momentous celebration. Rather, it was a catalyst that exacerbated the tragedy like a charcoal to the blazing flame. Just as an overflowing cup, Takeru's sanity reached its limit upon ceaseless compiling of bad news. A highly condensed artic aura saturated with dark energy exuded from Takeru and rampaged the surrounding atmosphere.
"…Takeru…?"
Hikari mumbled his name upon seeing his fearful reaction. It was the rarely seen appearance of Takeru that troubled her every encounter. Though lost deep in the abyssal maelstrom of malice, Hikari's gentle voice quickly rescued him and guided him back to normality.
"I'm sorry… It's just so sudden."
He hastily worked to regain his composure to conceal his disturbed mind.
"…I know… I'm sorry…"
She gave a weakly apology in a brittle voice. Despite the continual loss of vocal strength, she spoke on.
"I don't know… I love Taichi…"
"…I know."
"But…"
She halted continuing on and let the silence return. She lost her resolve once more when she attempted to express her feelings about Takeru that harbored in her heart for a long while. Numerous reattempts to solidify her determination proved to be futile. Prolonging silence left Takeru and Hikari perplexed and nervous respectively. Battling through confusion and perturbed mind, Takeru inquired the details of her marriage.
"When will it be?"
"…About a month from now…"
"A month?"
"…"
Her lips separated, but her voice was inaudible. A faint nod was all that Takeru could see.
"I see.."
The situation was far graver than he originally anticipated. Losing Taichi immediately after marriage would be exponentially painful than losing him prior to the marriage. He despised fate for allowing such circumstance to surface and haunt someone as lovely and innocent as Hikari. However, he concealed his hatred and suppressed his inner negativity to concentrate solely on Hikari's matter. He quickly recovered his warm, golden voice and comforted her with compassionate words.
"It's alright, Hikari. Don't feel bad."
Surprised at his calm demeanor, she questioned him with a soft voice.
"You're okay with it…?"
She said with a slightly disappointed tone, frightened at the thought that he might have lost interest to even care. Certainly, he had claimed that her happiness was his in the past and Hikari was full aware of his words. However, this circumstance was fundamentally different than merely Hikari loving Taichi, leading the hazel haired maiden to worry. Much anticipated reply came from her regal companion.
"Honestly…I'm quite troubled. I know I said that your happiness was mine too, but this time…I don't know."
"…"
"I never knew that it would happen this fast."
"…Yeah…"
She averted his gaze from guilt, for she knew how devastating it feels to lose the hold of loved ones. Hikari sensed an unspeakable dose of pain spreading through Takeru's body like lethal venom. However, she could not have guessed that the cause of his agony resulted not only from her marriage announcement and also from Takeru's own untold, undelivered conundrum.
"…I should've told you sooner…I'm sorry…"
"It's okay. You must have given it a lot of thought about it. And if that was your decision, I'll respect it. It was what you wanted, right?"
"…"
She carefully thought about his words. Certainly, she contemplated fiercely before making her decision and it seemed right. Taichi dwelled in her heart ever since and complete union with him would be all that she ever wished for. Nevertheless, her heart possessed a large, inextinguishable void, granting her nothing even remotely close to satisfaction or happiness. She knew her decision was flawed, but had no courage to expose that fact to the dear man with undying kindness. Silently, she simply nodded to his sentence.
"If it makes you happy, I'll be fine."
"…"
Altruistic, loving words from the pale saint backfired and mangled Hikari with further guilt. She felt terrible receiving Takeru's endless kindness while gifting him nothing but pain and ill emotions. She loved his benevolence, but abhorred it as well. Her heart cried in pain just from thinking about what distress Takeru must be enduring. Within him existed an immeasurable emotional pandemonium, and Hikari felt helpless for being unable to aid him in any manner. She gazed back at the suffering man and dove into his sparkling azure orbs. Upon staring into Takeru's sapphire iris, suppressed emotions erupted from deep inside her. His eyes contained sorrowful shades that invoked her sympathy. Unable to retain the flooding emotions, Hikari dove into Takeru and wrapped her arms around his body. She buried her face into his chest while gripping his shirt fiercely. At this sudden gesture, Takeru's heart skipped a beat and felt a warm sensation surge throughout his veins.
"Hikari..?"
Though he called out to her, she remained still and continued to wet Takeru's shirt with hot tears raining from her elegant eyes. With a breaking voice, she spoke.
"Why are you like this?"
"What?"
"Being so nice to me! Why won't you get angry at me?"
"What is there to be angry about? Your happiness?"
"…"
"Don't feel bad about me and just do your best to become happy, Hikari."
More of his gentle words enraged the weeping girl and forced her to grab his shirt stronger, mildly scratching Takeru's back. She pulled out her buried face and began shouting at Takeru.
"What about your happiness? What are you going to do?! And don't give me that 'my happiness is yours' nonsense!"
Takeru took a brief silence and glanced at Hikari's complexion. Her face was shaded red with fury and silvery stream gently flowed down on her delicate cheeks that seemingly belonged to an angel. After a brief look, he answered her.
"I will be happy when I can say that you are mine."
"Good luck with that! It's impossible now!"
"No. It isn't."
He retorted with a firm voice and continued on seconds after.
"You didn't marry him yet. There is still time to make you fall for me and change your mind."
"…And…if that doesn't work? Then, what?"
"I'll still be by your side. And try to win your heart until our 1 year agreement is finished."
She let out a quiet gasp. She was immensely surprised at Takeru's stout determination and focus to romantically claim her despite being struck with perhaps the greatest obstacle to his goal. At the same time, she detected an unexplainable sensation that sweetly melted her darkened heart. Initially, Hikari believed that everything had ended when she decided to marry Taichi and assumed that her relationship with Takeru would falter, resulting in his departure. Now embedded with the knowledge that the man she secretly loved would remain with her, the lightless despair lingering within her started to gradually dissipate. The wrath and remorse that nearly consumed her whole dispersed as well. Sorrowful liquid crystals exited her eyes no more. It was a unique magic that only Takeru possessed. Regardless of how severe her turmoil was, she always found peace after conversing with gifted, albeit, silly Takeru. Though eternally grateful for his kind proposal, she wished he would have disregarded the 1 year agreement. She let out a frail voice almost inaudible, expressing her desire.
"…You don't have to go…"
Unfortunately, her wish was undelivered, having been muted by the deafening thunder's inconvenient interruption. Though the sound was unheeded, Takeru noticed the infinitesimal movement of her mythically divine lips.
"Did you say something?"
"…Uh…nothing…"
Unable to muster her courage to repeat the sentence of her wish, she replied with a lie. She regretted it instantaneously.
"If you say so. And as much as I love having your arms around me, do you think you can lessen your grip just a bit?"
Then, she realized that she was clawing his back and immediately removed her arms from him in embarrassment. Once she regained her composure, she looked back at Takeru and spoke.
"I'm really sorry about everything, Takeru... and…"
She hesitated continuing for a brief interval. After few moments, she delivered the final fragment of her statement.
"Thank you."
Though she harbored remnants of guilt, she was still thankful for Takeru's unending kindness. He conjured a pleasant expression upon receiving Hikari's words of gratitude. With their thoughts and words exchanged, Hikari stood up from the couch and spoke on.
"It's late. I think I'll go to bed."
"Alright."
He stood up as well and the two began heading back to their room. Hikari followed behind Takeru, staring at his large, masculine back. Her eyes traveled below and sighted his hands. Her index finger moved subtly, reaching out to Takeru's big hand. She hesitated and repeated reaching out and pulling back her hand. Unfortunately, she could not touch his hand due to arriving in front of their rooms. She quickly placed her hand back by her side before Takeru turned to face her. With an adoring gaze, he wished her good night.
"Sleep well, Hikari."
"Yeah…you too."
He turned to enter his room, but was halted by a light force that pulled him away from the door. Hikari's gentle hands held his hand lightly with a feather-like touch.
"Really….thank you…"
Then, she swiftly released his hand and disappeared behind the wooden barrier of her chamber. Alone in the hallway, Takeru savored the lingering warmth from Hikari's hands until it faded away. After standing motionlessly for a lengthy amount of time, he finally moved his feet and moved once again. Surprisingly, he walked away from the bedroom instead of sleeping like the brunette girl. Takeru wandered silently throughout the entire building. His pale skin reflected by the night moon suggested an appearance of a haunting apparition. The motive behind his curious behavior was discovery, but his search was not completed until he had spent 3 hours on exploring all 20 floors that belonged to the currently sleeping princess of Yagami Corp. He searched for a chamber he knew must exist. Otherwise, how else would Hikari have become the impeccable sharpshooter that she is now or reload the bullets she often fired at Takeru? The concealed chamber was located below ground level. The entrance was located in the deepest corner of the garage, concealed by a camouflaged door nearly invisible to the naked eye. Behind the door revealed a stairway that led him to the room that rendered Takeru speechless except for one word.
"Wow…"
The content of the room was staggering. The chamber's dimension was colossal and was equipped with gears that soundproofed the entire room. To the far end, there stood numerous practice targets in shape of people. The instruments to be used on these targets were stored in a large vault nearby. He opened the compartment and discovered an enormous collection of firearms. It was not an overstatement to say that nearly all known handgun models were stored within it. He browsed through the collection like a gun shop customer and finally picked out one specific type of handgun.
"This will do."
The gun was coated with starry silver finish and possessed a cylindrical barrel with 6 holes. He selected the revolver for a curious reason. When he glanced at it, he felt a strange subconscious connection with it. When he held it in his hand, it fit his hand perfectly like a puzzle piece. There was an eerie comfort that sent chills throughout his body.
'Even if my head doesn't remember anything, I guess my body does.'
He thought to himself as he acknowledged Ken's words with increased credibility. He chuckled sorrowfully while loading the bullets into the gun barrel. It was a bitter to acknowledge that he really was an assassin that frequently used a gun. Nevertheless, he hoped that he could regain his lost skills and utilize it for his goal. That was his sole purpose of finding this room, to train himself in order to harness enough strength to protect both Taichi and Hikari. Merely thinking would yield neither protection nor solution to the current crisis. This path could certainly provide adequate protection to Hikari and her brother, but at the cost of jeopardizing Takeru's own life. Regardless, he was prepared to face the consequences and decided to battle against the dark syndicate known as the Apocalypse.
'Nobody but me should die for the faults of my past.'
He held the gun tightly within his palm and cocked the hammer back. Slowly, he raised his arm parallel to the ground and stared at the distant practice targets. Few moments were spent on a heavy concentration, then, he squeezed his index finger on the trigger. Loud tremor resonated throughout the chamber as the piece of metal exited the gun with incredible speed.
So sorry for not updating sooner even though I said I'd write more. Juggling a job and internship at the same time was a lot tougher than I thought. But that's no excuse. I'm SO SORRY! And a huge thanks to all those who patiently waited. More will come soon. Thank you!
miiko chan: Glad you love my story. Thank you!
BMW66: I'm happy that you enjoy my story. I will try to update quicker!
The Crash Twins: I'll introduce more characters in the future. Look forward to it!
StarrRyder: I'm sooooo sorry for making you wait... please forgive me.
Takari02: I'm glad that you liked Ken's introduction. And I'll take your advice and try to improve the story more!