Reid(2)
Subaru slumped on the floor with a loud thud, mute from depleted lungs and dehydrated from sweating the last drop of water in his raisin dried ass. But the exhaustion helped numbing the proper ass beating he undertook. 'The trial of a man', he said. 'It builds character' he said. Bullshit. His arms and legs screamed otherwise. Subaru was sure his black and blue bruises suffered their own bruises. He hadn't dealt with this measure of pain in forever, ever, in his short life. Well, only if you exclude the emotional pain of regrets and embarrassments he brought on himself for years. Alright, maybe he wasn't feeling so bad right now. Maybe physical pain was a blessing by comparison. Definitely better. Those years clowning around earned him a terrible social rep.
He tried to push himself back up, but tough luck, his file minion tenderized arms allowed him to hug the floor better.
"Mn~aaw, hop up, fishy." Urged Reid, his toe used to prod at the defenseless Subaru's ribs. He'll be fine, the swelling will pass. Probably. "Up, up! Or sideways at least. Just try moving first, you. Motion helps." The swordsman curled his toes worryingly similar to a tight fist and whacked the boy 'gently'. Or as gently as a guy beating with curled tootsies could. Who also happened to the epitome of martial prowess. …Who also happened to be Reid. That said enough. "You've got me ta teach ya, so ya's gotta show yer mettle, you. Meanin' to get up after ya can't get up!" Smiled Reid proudly to what Subaru assumed was meant to be 'wisdom'. The complete scam kind of wisdom he can read in a fortune cookie. "That's wha' it means ta fight."
"Blergh…" Subaru didn't want to fight, he wanted to bitch and moan. Preferably at the loudest volume possible right down Reid's eardrum. Or anything remotely close to pester him. "Jou cahh dih thranen…?" Subaru tried to get up. And 'tried' was shot and dead, abandoned in a fucking puddle of sweat that Reid punched(towed?) out of him. But putting the hogwash advice to use, Subaru exerted himself in a herculean effort. And fulfilled the colossal task of turning his head around, towards the wild man. "It hurts everything… I regret everything…"
There he stood above him, in a comically exaggerated angle that was too uncomfortable on Subaru's tired eyes. The simple getup of a shirt and jeans borrowed/stolen from his father – thank fuck Kenichi was into pranks – snugly fit the brute, highlighting his solid frame. And by God was it absurd. The guy could make girls envious with pectorals by a long shot; it made HIM jealous. Subaru worked out, far more seriously than many his age, why wasn't he as swole.
And again, he really did not appreciate the shojo genre angle forced on his prone form.
What did I do so wrong to pull a level 20 barbarian summon?! Bullshit scam like always. I knew the gatcha was the devil's work! I never should've wished for a real-life D&D fantasy.
"Screw moving, I can't – I can't blink, asshole… If you left me paralyzed, I swear I'll haunt you in and after the afterlife!" He managed to say it with difficulty. "Even in another world!"
"Heh. Guess you'll always threaten me with that at any age, hm~n?" Reid plopped down in front of his craned face, the chopsticks at his belt clanking together like drum sticks. "Even when ya're kinda doing it already, you. Now that I look at it."
There he goes again talking like he knows me. Maybe it's a weird custom from wherever the hell he's from; shouldn't judge him then. But it's sure freaky, man! Dude – you speak like a backstreet punk but you can't level with me on not pretending to know who I am!? We met for the first time a month ago. Not ages ago!
"Guess you'll always talk in riddles. Even if you don't know what a riddle is." Subaru wanted to cry from exhaustion and muscle aches, or… internal-organ-mushy-things-viscera-aches. He was sure bruises existed where they shouldn't.
"Yup! Same old, same old. He~eh, the more sheit changes, the more it stays the same." Reid nodded with a nostalgic grin. "Back on track!" Suddenly his face looked serious. "Ya didn't screw up too bad, sackseed. Got the gist ta prioritize yer neck and core, you. And try tracking where I'm lookin' when hittin'. But ya ain't got actually useful tricks in a fight, you'd get folded. But ya's starting off well enough ta swim. Give it some years and I'll see ya kick ass on yer own!" He smiled proudly to himself.
"Wow. Don't lift my spirits too much, right?" Plonk. Subaru's forehead kissed the dusty matted floor. Again. Did you miss me, honey? I sure did miss you. Wow! Is that a new dust particle layer? Oh you~ But as Subaru flirted with the ground, his instinct told him better.
Here he was a week later after the biggest assault he ever witnessed/lived through. And he got this far with Reid. The guy wasn't as bad as he 'felt' he would've been. He slowly got to hear him talk about himself. Although sparsely. Maybe soon he'd get answers on the extremely sensitive topic of why Reid was sent here. Or who the friends he references were.
With that in mind Subaru decided to just take the compliment. Reid never did compliments – no, scratch that, Reid wasn't good with words in the first place. Period. So hearing him spare this much for his efforts wasn't all bad. "No, nevermind what I said. …Thanks. Guess I'll just have to get better." He mumbled against the floor after raising a hand miraculously. "But years?! Fuck no! It's either now or don't even bother beating me up anymore!"
"Gha~ha~hah! Gotta be the afterlife here! Ya never said that, ever! The 'thanks' part. Shit! You actually show a spine, you!" Reid announced, and plucked Subaru by the back of his shirt. The brat was all tuckered out, but he'd live. Nothing his expertise couldn't handle. "But a soft spine's a useless spine if ya ain't grow it. Gotta keep swimming if ya ain't wanna drown lil' fish. Hup!"
"I'm starting to doubt you know what you're talking about."
Like so Reid carried a Subaru-backpack out of Kenichi's personal sanctuary. A.K.A. the Natsuki home gym. Mainly used along the years to nourish Subaru in an honest lifestyle of physical effort and discipline. Recently: known by beating the schnoz out of him. Gone were the days of pro wrestler moves, and welcome were with the brutal and dirty techniques of a sword swinging maniac.
The little things in life were what mattered, thought Subaru.
"Aaaa~lright!" Reid sat the boy he abus-taught at the family table gently. Only for Suabru to immediately slump over the hard wooden surface. *click-clack* followed the clatter of chopsticks being dropped on the table after.
He really loves these things, doesn't he? I mean, it's quality wood, a connoisseur like me can understand the intricacies. Bonus points for your barbarian score on having something this refined in the isekai-scam world I fished you from. Though also kind of sad, man. It's just a pair of chopsticks. Don't go crazy over eating utensils. You'll end up drawing faces on them like the Willson coconut.
…hmn… do they have coconuts where he's from?
"Mkay! You hold on tight where ya's relaxin', fish. Think yer ma' had stashed a lil' pick me up around. M'sure it's the best help you need. Trust me." Said Reid, hovering around the kitchen island to search in the pantry. Taking a few seconds to stare in empty space with every cupboard opened, naturally moving like he owned the place.
Subaru might've protested at first. Then maybe he would start helping in the search. Of whatever he's searching. But this time he didn't have enough energy for more shenanigans. He was occupied immersing in his freshly vegetative state. Oh well, third time this week, so not all that novel an experience. Given a few more days, Natsuki was sure to get over it.
Look. He could move a finger around today. A 100% improvement.
"Alright. Bad news, don't get mad." Reid returned. He sat at the chair facing Subaru with a gloomy expression, his hands clutched over the table. "Today's really a tough day. Don't know how we'll manage. But… dunno. Imma figure something' out."
"What happened?! Out with it! If you broke–"
"We got no booze."
"..."
"..."
"THAT'S THE BAD NEWS?!" By some unseen divine intervention, Subaru mustered a force from beyond his mortal flesh to spring off where his forehead began to marry the table, a red mark coloring his skin. "I thought you broke the kitchen! Don't scare me for nothing, asshole!"
"Scare for nothing?! This is something! No. Everything! How's we supposed to go about without getting properly shit-faced up in the morning after honest work?"
"I'm painted in all the colours of the visible and invisible spectrum from what was roughly a bar fight inside a home surrounded by neighbors – who probably now think I just got SWATted or beaten by the yakuza – and you worry over cheap beer cans?!" He managed to grip the table too, tremendous progress today.
"OI! Piss water is nuthin' but cheap, ya hear! It's an essential and must have. This beer ya iay-pam people got?–"
"Japan."
"–a blessing!" Reid chidded with grit teeth, his wild mane of red hair bristled like a beast in tension. "And it's only a little training. I didn't run ya over with a dragon, ya prissy princess, you."
"A little training? I can't feel my legs! What good preparation leaves you an invalid for the rest of the day? The rest of the day where we later have to go out! In the night. And find fuck-knows-what stranger-danger monster in some abandoned street corner, from a meth house!" His sanpaku eyes contracted into pinpricks and the swells on his face began fading. Yup – I became a verified deranged individual. I'm spending too much time with Reid.
"Last time? I'm sure something groped my leg! Yes, groped, you heard me. And it sure wasn't from this world, I won't budge on this!"
"Kids these days. So whiny." Reid sighed and shook his head. "This is how ya learn, roe spawn. It's how I learned, and taught meself perfectly, you. I didn't have a teacher ta show me the ropes and I sure as shit got knocked the fuck around worse than I'm love tapping your arse, you."
"Well…" Subaru choked on his retort just as he jumped out of his seat, feeling a little awkward now that he suddenly regained locomotory function.
"You were saying~" Reid closed his eyes. He smiled knowingly before tapping the table with a chopstick.
Subaru didn't want to admit it. So he wouldn't. He'd limit himself to thinking about it. And he wouldn't like it.
Fuck! It's not a bad point. His cockroach brain did come up with the moves that saved me, even if I still think he could've done better than NFL kick my ass across the street. But he's coming from an age where teaching can't be anything but practical lessons. And if it's true, and it likely is, he's really going easy on me. …Still don't like it. Baah! Maybe I am complaining too much.
"God, you're such a sleazebag."
"He~h" Reid's uncovered eye looked coyly sideways. "Everyone says it." And managed to also hide the frown darkening his face. Still stung to hear it from the kid in a raw like feeling. But best not think about haunting memories. As he was told one too many times 'that was that, this is this' or something like it.
"Reid" Subaru felt things would take a gloomy tumble if this mood didn't change. And for all it was worth, being able to read the room once in his life, he didn't want to backpedal on the progress they had so far. "Since you need to hold back so much to teach me, say, how did you manage to live through 'worse'? I mean, jokes aside, I'm not going back on your help. But you can't blame me for thinking it's pretty much impossible you went through worse and didn't die."
"I am dead!" He replied all too readily.
"Not helping!" a chill went down Subaru's spine. "Stop saying that! I don't like how that idea grips my brain" trembling. He didn't consider himself a spiritualist, far from it, yet Subaru had this funny feeling hearing someone claim to be undead. It gave him the shivers.
Reid chuckled. "You think I'm lying, don't you, lil' fish?"
"I wouldn't say lying, no. Not like I got a choice in believing you when you do what you do and fight –" Subaru recoiled from the last memory he had staring at the black mass of curses and distinctly feeling he was being stared back at. "– what that thing is…"
"Witch." Supplied Reid monotonously.
"Shadap!"
Reid blew out a laugh. He leaned back in the chair, dangling close to off balance and straightened back with a sigh. "Oo~oh, fish, ya slam a fucking wagon in the bitch's face and now ya's all quivering over it's name? Od, ya crack me up, you." Reid moved to whip an unshed tear before reaching for a cup and water pitcher.
"It wasn't a wagon, it was a dumpster with concrete, ok?"
"Same shit, different cart." Grinned the redhead before gulping the glass empty in one sip. "Did it ever occur to ya, dumbass, that – though stupid – ya fought back? That night out, remember, ey?"
"I'm not sure we're seeing eye to eye here."
"Huh? Ok, ok, here" Reid pulled his eyepatch over the brow, swapping out his previously hidden eye for the one Subaru accustomed to seek. He looked like a cheap Halloween pirate costume for ten yen. "Better?"
"The fuck better?! You're doing it on purpose!"
"Ghahahah! Sure am, pipsqueak!"
Subaru wanted to shrug and sigh but relented. "I don't get what you mean. I landed a hit because you had its attention. And it wasn't even a traditional hit. If you don't count debris-filled rolling dumpsters as a weapon. Doesn't help that my odds of hitting that hard by myself are basically nonexistent…"
"Sackseed, did ya ever fight back for yourself before, you?" Reid pushed with a chopstick the water pitcher in front of Subaru.
"No? There are several issues with what I know what you meant, but… I don't know! I wasn't taught to do that?" Subaru started loudly only to end on a quiet note. "All I settled for was how to lock my old man in an arm bar. I'd get in trouble otherwise."
"Get outta here, you!" Reid raised his eyebrow. "Got a hidden tragic backstory too? Welcome to the gang, kid. But seriously, you know how ya can get up against the wall and yer totally bum-fucking stacked to get screwed over? Usually 'cuz someone starts things and calls ya an asshole… which ain't wrong, mind ya, so it's all on you to deal with."
"Uh-huh" Subaru distinctly felt Reid was projecting. If only a smidge.
"Well! Point is, you get cornered and you don't know how ta deal with it, so ya freeze up. Logic's gone, reason's gone, you. Fuck, words are useless too. So what ya got left?"
"Running?"
"Fighting!"
"I'm a teenager living in modern-day Japan, Reid. Not a Super Saiyan that can smack away a force of nature just because I didn't like how it looked at me! This isn't a good lesson. You can't – well, maybe you can – but I can't shove my fist down whatever thing's throats we chase and expect it to work. It just…" Subaru sighed and felt the exhaustion hit him again. "It just doesn't work like that here. This isn't a fantasy world." Natsuki gingerly hugged his hurting arms and tucked in himself like shielding from wind. "Things aren't as easy."
"What part of what I mentioned was easy, you?" Reid turned his head. His voice was tinted with a mellow tone.
"The fighting?" Subaru grabbed the pitcher and poured himself a glass of water. "Or just how casually you jump the gun to pummeling. Because you can! Thinking with fists seems like a choice of style. And I'm? Ugh… not exactly any good."
"Right, 'cuz ya so~oo can talk it out with the vapid bitch we trackin' instead, you." Reid lightly snarled. "Weren't ya blowing about how that slut kept kidnapping people around your town?"
"Blow it out your ass, Reid! I-… I did say that actually." Suabru replied with mixed feelings.
"Hah!" Snorted the brutish swordsman before taking his sticks and circling the rim of his empty glass with them. "Least we agree, you. So? Am I still 'making it sound hard', you?"
"Depends?" He was unsure. "I still have my doubts."
Doubts. There was a word Reid disliked deeply. "There you go with that! See, you! That's where ya's got yer own ass over your head. Ya don't act. Ya don't do sumthin'. Just 'cuz things don't go sailing smoothly and it doesn't sit right with you. Well – surprise! Things don't go the way I like. And definitely don't go how you'd like, dipshit."
Subaru slapped his face. Ow. Still tender. "Of course I have doubts! I couldn't put up a fight to save my life before, and now I know how to dodge some curse or whatever. Your kicks amount to a curse, right? At minimum! This doesn't feel like it makes me better."
"It is."
"– because I can't dice magic up and – come again?" Subaru screeched to a halt in his deluge of arguments. If he didn't know any better, the boy would say he received whiplash inside his brain from that sudden stop.
"Said 'it does help'. What? Ya daft now too?" Reid felt annoyed to say this. Felt like the kid was taking him for an idiot. Something he wouldn't outright deny nowadays if he were honest. But he certainly disliked how one moment the kid bounced from insightful to cockroach brained. "I ain't tryna teach ya how to be me, you!" Reid raised a leg to rest on his knee and lean with an elbow over. "I'm teaching ya how to not be me, lil' fish."
"..." Subaru's mouth dried. His tonsils stung and he felt a pressure pound in his temples. This guy can't be for real now, right? Then what are the lessons for? Am I just getting flipped and slammed around for shits and giggles? No! No… As much as I want to throw a fit, I know better than that. I'm not an amateur at reading people anymore. Or the same dumbass kid. Really gotta stop giving people shit. Even if he's Reid, the guy still got my back. As unreliable as that sounds. …Christ, I'm dead if I came to rely on Reid.
"Fine…" with a quiet sigh, Subaru stomped his ego and his anger along with it. He couldn't act like a brat forever. "You're right. I talked shit even though I don't know better. It doesn't take another go at this discussion to know when I fucked up."
".." Reid wearily peeked at Subaru from the corner of his visible eye (it still had to adjust to the sudden lighting change). The swordsman tested some words in his mouth but didn't reply. He had to be pretty mad if he didn't even talk back.
"..."
"Ya's really different, huh?"
But he answered in a reasonable voice. Subaru felt lost.
"Is-is that something bad?" Confused, Subaru acted on instinct and blurted what he thought first. I get the sense he's talking again like he knows me. Downright creepy. But, he says it differently than usual.
"Nah!" Reid clapped a hand over his flexed leg. "The opposite, methinks. Kinda good?" A light smile cast away the odd tension built in the room. "Guess I just gotta dumb down ma lessons so ya fishbrain gets it, you. Hard to believe it, you. Thought we worked opposite?"
"OI!" Subaru felt cheated for a second. "I was having a moment! Not breaking character!"
"Yup! Still don't understand some of yer bullshit words." Reid brushed him off. "Anyway. Before we got off track. Let me put it like this: When I was younger, I was about" he paused, stuck pondering. A difficult emotion exuded from his features, possibly discomfort. "a dick. And… a dangerous type of dick. Got my fair share of people in a lotta trouble." He looked at Subaru with an unspoken elaboration.
"So nothing new, huh?" The boy dryly remarked.
"Oh, go fuck yourself ya spirit-twink!"
Subaru stifled a laugh, struggling to not groan in pain or burst with a snort. His tender muscles ached with every sharp breath. "Just joking; just joking. Go on."
Reid huffed "I did what I wanted 'cuz I could afford it. Because I caught on how to handle myself, you. And everything became peachy goodness. Rivers of booze, mountains of tits and all the adventures a young lad wants."
Yup! Sounds like Reid, alright. Huh, though I guess he did grow some if he's admitting about it in this 'nuanced' light. Eh, he's still gotta work on it.
"And yeah-yeah-shut yer trap! I know whatcha grinnin' at, asshole, you." He frowned and scowled (with one eye) after gripping his chopsticks. "The important bit you should know ain't 'bout how strong you end up from this. That means jack shit if you freeze over. It's all about decisiveness. It's hell'a efficient, can't lie. And you can't pretend to lie too, bastard. I picked it up quickly in my day and got far. But ya's hella different. You're slow on the uptake. Keep hesitating and doubting. Ya might as well ask to die this way. It's like yer begging to be fucked over."
"Wow!"
"What's it supposed to mean, 'wow'?!" yelled Reid.
"Ah… sorry. It just came out of nowhere. But I get it, I get it. So then where does the wringing-me-soulless fighting come into play?"
"Getting used to it." He replied in a matter of fact style. "Maybe now ya ain't got hot shit to do. Prolly won't for a while. But ya startin' to think of something more often than stand there like a pigeon shat statue, hoping things work out. Be more present in the moment, you. We don't got a lotta time so it's best I expose yer baby ass to some blood pounding experience."
Reid got off his chair and stretched an arm above. A dull pop sound cracked from his shoulder.
"You're worrying. Like, a lot. Too much. Anymore and you'll start freezing when ya gotta take a leak. You overcomplicate everything and slip with your balls in hand. Bonk! Next thing's your head over the toilet bowl. And then whaddaya know! You've got a concussion and don't even know what your name is, you."
"That was specifically precise to an uncomfortable degree."
"Ya wouldn't know, you."
"So that's it? All of this back and forth for you to sell me some smoke on how I need to act, not panic? Really underwhelming."
The redhead rolled his eyes. Subaru guessed 'eyes', he only could track one. "Again. You ain't me. So you gotta stick to planning while I do the ass whopping." He walked around the table, returning to the kitchen. "But since ya wanna be in the shitshow o' the fight so~ooo damn much? Ya can't keep bein' a burden. Gotta be used to it. And use that brain of yours fast, lil' fish. And use it not ta feck us over ta boot!"
While the fighter restarted his attempt in search of the sacred drink of the goods called 'beer cans', Subaru was left to mull over their talk.
So Reid never expected me to become who knows what big shot. Or at the very least get close to him in the fighting range. Logical. But damn if it isn't irritating. For some reason I feel like shit. Even if he doesn't hold it against me… I still wanted to be independent of his help eventually. Can't stop the kidnappings if I can't even save myself. This way I feel helpless. Like I'm no good. No! Double no good now. I failed my parents and now I fail anyone in this town who gets abducted by the… by the… the Witch… God! Why am I so scared of it?! I stopped her… For a night? Reid did the heavy lifting, but I didn't let him get fucked over by his brain-rot solutions or the Witch. I saved that innocent woman's life as well!
Then why…?
*Cold*
A slab of meat squished against his face.
"When ya's done with it, I say we slam it on the barbie. Booze would've went so fucking well with it that it's a shame…" Squishy, squishy. Reid languidly administered the second best thing after alcohol to a minor in modern day Japan suffering from swelling welts and bruises. Too bad they were all targeted under the face. Not much to be done by rubbing meat like deodorant over one's body. But the thought counted.
Reid, noticeably bored, slumped in the living room straight on the floor. Or, rather carpet. His visible eye staring a hole through the black crystal strip that revealed 'perimeter magic fields'.
Or as Subaru enlightened him – the TV.
"I guess it can't hurt?" With heavy legs(whole body) Subaru limped his way to the couch. With all the grace of a geriatric athlete. "Still feels hollow…" the boy mumbled to himself.
It was only expected.
They set things straight, sure. But it was stale to a fault in a hard way to describe. It made sense. Which was an issue in the boy's opinion. Because Reid didn't make sense. Why should he start sounding reasonable now. Unless he was keeping things on the down low, which didn't change their dynamic. Of course now Subaru didn't want to waste the help received. He wouldn't be much good should he resume to only bitching and moaning when times get tough. He was banking on saving those people. It was his driving force in all his recent memories. It was his modus operandi.
As chilling as it was to admit within, Subaru felt more alive than ever after so long.
Wish I could do more. Maybe that's it… I'm being butthurt over not being set to win from the get go. Aa~gh! What a loser mentality! I get a crisis on my hands and just because I'm included I start imagining I'm some cheap VN protag with a penchant for righteous tantrums.
*Bonk* went the remote against his forehead. Subaru felt he didn't hit himself hard enough for that realization.
Reid snorted, his back facing Subaru. "Ya keep slapping that head o' yours like I slap cheeks. If ya know what I mean, you." He scratched his back without an ounce of shame. "Speakin' of…" His head swiveled to catch sight of the dry stare sent his way. "Want me ta teach ya how to get mad pussy?"
"Think I'll pass."
"Y'sure?"
"Sure, sure."
"Yer loos!" Reid slapped his knees. "After a while ya'll cry yerself ta sleep for not learning from the best, you! Scores of wild sex with the baddest chicks, lost because you ain't man enough."
You say that, but for reasons I can't articulate I weirdly feel like you're BS-ing harder than ever.
A sly smile came over Subaru as he played with the remote in hand, hounding after the news channel.
"You sound like a real ladies killer, huh? Bet you were really as awesome as ya say back in your day." The trap was laid.
"'O course! Heh~ I am the Heavenly Sword for a reason, lil' fish. Don't let the lack o' mana in this backwards life get it twisted." He puffed out. His voice was smug. He looked delighted at the praise. The grin Reid wore was something Subaru could see just by hearing him.
"Also bet you caught yourself someone just as great to live with then, huh? But– wait, nah. Couldn't top your style, I'm sure. Still. Wonder what she was like?" He flicked mindlessly through the channels. His attention set on the unsuspecting swordsman.
"Hoh! 'As' great? 'Not as' great? Nah… Trish was hella greater. I tell ya, this one time, in an arm wrestle, she flipped three mooks from a border skirmish under the table to over the ceiling lights! Bha-ha! The dumb fucks cartwheeled down in the dragon's water! Yeh… she was just the best–" Suddenly Reid tensed. His shoulders tightened and his back hardened like carved from marble. "Oi…" The locks of scarlet hair scraped his neck as his face wearily pivoted. "You're one fucking sly asshole, ain't you."
"'That's what everyone says'." Subaru quoted the earlier saying of Reid.
Ah-hah! So he is just fucking with me for cool points. Right, as if you had that much attention from women. It's a miracle you had friends. Of course the girl who'd give you the time of her day would be irreplaceable to you.
"Just now. I feel like you just looked a' me like always, cockwart." Reid sent a questioning glance Subaru's way.
"And just now it felt again like you spoke from experience." The boy leaned as he raised the volume. His aching body and attention to their bickering fading. There was something new being casted. "Like you know me or something…"
Alas.
He wouldn't solve this mystery today.
[–the Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture's sinister chain of disappearances has today reached 34 people in total. A horrible record number spanning over two months. With the national authorities mobilized on high alert, the pace of abductions has been noted to slow down. Yet with regret, I voice the public concern of 'slow down'. Indeed, with a heavy heart we report today no concrete leads of possible culprit/s.
Just two days prior, a 17-year-old boy's heartbroken mother made an emotional appeal to whoever lies behind the crime spree. Adachi Michio was last seen on Saturday 5 May. He is thought to have left his home in the early hours on his mountain bike.
Adachi Michio is of slim build and approximately 168cm tall. He was last seen wearing a black hoodie and orange tracksuit pants.]
Subaru felt his soul leave his body and hover just over his shoulder, looking as mortified as his now ego-less husk to the TV.
He took a second to breathe in. To settle back on his hearing. To allow the deluge of photos on TV, removed of their usual blurred features, assault his retinas and burn them.
*Crack*
The groan and splinter of the remote held in one hand caused him to stagger and drop it.
The age. The place. The identity. The face. The clothes.
If Subaru closed his eyes, imagined the wind of his face riding a bike, and saying goodbye to his parents after leaving for a quick run in the city…
He couldn't think about it. His internalized thoughts failed to shape up. He only heard Adachi Michio's repeating description. His name, a roar in a quiet headspace. The date, a determined doom. And the number of people missing, a phantom hanging on to him like Damocles' sword.
Subaru felt sick again.
And under sickness, lay fear. And beyond the film of instinctual fear, reaching after his soul and touching the shadow it cast, boiled irrational anger. Aimed at himself. Aimed at the misfortune.
…At that thing! That Witch. The creature!
[–"It doesn't matter what - if you're in trouble, if you owe money. If you're scared."]
A snippet of the plea. That was the boy's mother. She looked devastated, with a voice traumatized beyond repair. And she was as helpless as Subaru was to change this.
No.
He wasn't as helpless. He could've changed this. Could have. If the same two days prior he would've perused the city clean… without a shadow of doubt – Subaru would've garnered the Witch's attention. And not the poor boy.
He took it slow.
Reid was right…
He doubted every second.
Reid was right.
He didn't contribute anything.
Reid was right.
He froze up.
Reid was right!
He didn't act.
GO FUCK YOURSELF!
[Despite the authorities' best efforts, and teams of forensics professionals working over the wide range of victims, no physical traces of any nature detailing the tragic events unfolding have been discovered. With the number on seeming rise and clues in no sight, we may soon face a localized state of emergency emitted by the government.
With vague reports from citizens found in the vicinity of disappearances, all detailing ailing symptoms, a general consensus leans toward the usage of possible chemical substances. Though any compounds have yet to be noticed in the regions of interest.
Once again…
I urge everyone: do not leave the safety of your houses alone after evenings, be it for work or outside business. At all times – please – everyone is heavily requested to–]
The channel changed mid speech. Reid was handling the remote now. From the look on his face, he must have pressed on the device at random.
Reid rolled his already short sleeve. "Gonna need another wakeup, you?" Bringing a fist up in Subaru's nostrils, the large man uncomfortably threatened him with a past session of 'patient and shrink'.
But Subaru was not impressed.
Rather, he brushed off the man's attitude and moved off the couch. With a chunky slap, he flung the piece of meat over Astrea's fist.
"If ya feel bad 'bout it, don't go cryin', you" called Reid over the couch backrest. With minimal effort, he flung the steak off somewhere in the kitchen sink and surprised no one by nailing the throw. "Better draw us a scheme or some shit, I dunno."
"I know." Subaru circled the room.
"Ah"
"It just…" the boy walked to his room and back. In his hands hung a black jacket striped orange. "Hits harder and harder." Like every trial I ask Reid to give me. He wanted to put the damn thing on. He paused on the action, just as his eyes fixed the clothing and scowled in disgust.
The jacket he kept as his most reliable was flung off who knew where in the living room.
"I could hit harder and nastier. Really fuck up all the bitches." Reid mumbled as if to offer support. "And it can be the slut's face, the one with dedication. Ya just gotta point us right. …and find how to hold her in one place."
"Tonight, Reid. Again." Subaru huffed. Feeling his knees wobble and the weary pain dissolve in a misty euphoria, the boy struggled to calm himself. "We'll catch up on rest during the days."
Quirking a brow, Reid got up and folded his hands. "Days?"
"If it only happens at night" Subaru breathed unevenly. "And out of sight; from witnesses and security cameras." His voice trembled. "Then we just stick to patrol narrow streets over and over at night." Natsuki was stuck in a loop.
"Rushing on that plan?" Reid didn't know if to object. To him, it sounded all fine and dandy. So long as his fish had some juice left in that nascent mana pool of his, he could keep going. The caveat reared its ugly head to them if Subaru ran on fumes.
No mana = They're fucking dead. As well as no fancy moves. As a bonus screw you in their package.
And no fancy moves or 'fuel' for Reid's deceased existance meant bum-fuck chances to get the Witch bitch on her knees.
Moreover, "she'll be bolting straight to you." Reid spoke evenly. It felt like a threat. "If ye get taken out of the game? I'm cucked from this life on the spot. No retries. No second chances. No nuthin'." He brought a palm up, ready any second to scoop the kid up by the scruff of his shirt and slam him over the closest wall. The swordsman had little temper and lesser mercy. Though be it as it were, he strained to control himself.
Barely.
"I don't plan on it. That idea died last time we almost committed a murder-suicide pact. No…" Subaru moved to the hall, rummaging a small bowl hidden on a rack with outdoor jackets.
*Clack*
The sound of a key turning in the front door lock was deafened by their frenzy. Neither of them noticed.
"This time it's different. I had it all wrong. And because of that I– make us both fail. I'm over cowering." From the bowl he retrieved a set of keys hanging by a slim chain. "And I'm over chasing. If the Witch does this to lure us out, let's swap places and lure her instead. We'll wait, and she'll search. But we can't just sit nice and wait for it to happen. We need a secluded place for our plan. One without people or posted officers to interfere."
Reid felt a tad surprised, or simply didn't believe what he heard. "And all this just came up to you now, you? Convenient."
"No. I'm a coward, remember?" Subaru didn't spare himself the shame to stutter the truth. "I was sitting on this for a while. I didn't get to iron out all the nacks for it to be flawless. But I doubt it would've been flawless to begin with. …magic and all. So I didn't just spawn a plan, no." Natsuki gulped and gripped the keychain. His face pulled in a bitter twist of worry and spite. A hint of anger and an ocean of regret. "I just grew a pair."
"HAH! Should've said so first! Alright. I know we'll regret this later. But I sure wanna see yer ass fail now than later."
"And fail at what? Precisely." She spoke in a razor calm voice.
Subaru felt his spine chill. For some reason he couldn't think of fast enough, he felt this was a bad sign.
He quickly turned towards the opened door.
"Subaru?" Naoko chose exactly that moment to return home and walk in on the argument worthy to televise on a reality show. And just as the mother saw the discolored lumps hidden under Subaru's shirt, she dropped the bags brought home to rush at him. A cacophony of clattering items echoing behind her. "Subaru, are you alright?! Tell me how you feel. A-ah, where is my phone?"
"Just some practice drills." Reid plainly answered from behind the kid. He tried approaching.
"!"
But Naoko's glistening eyes replete with wild confusion and loss scared him. It was instinct, Reid felt choked.
"Pr-actice?" Naoko didn't manage to echo the barebones explanation. She saw black and blue. Literally. The spots were callous to the touch. Her boy's skin was rough and coarse like sandpaper. "Wh-why?"
Subaru staggered. Though not from the pain of touch, no. It was the torture hearing his mother's braised call. His mom lacking to articulate nothing but fright left Subaru petrified. Petrified like always. Stuck. Unmoving. Inactive. A passive witness to events he wouldn't change.
He fucked up.
Again.
But him wronging someone; his mother; wasn't something to bother him anymore. Not after how many times he did it already for years. But the fact he wasn't bothered at all – bothered him.
God, am I an idiot. Is there anything I can do right? If it's not mom and dad's direct safety in danger, then it's their mental health I'm testing. If dad saw this… Fuck! If dad saw this what would he do? I got nothing on hand to explain. I could say the truth, but it's stupid and tiring. I'll only worry mom more. She'll think I went off the hinges for good.
"I-it's ok… mom. It's alright. I asked Reid to teach me everything he knows to–ah… and since I don't have all the time before he leaves, I–" Subaru's eyes darted all over the house, anywhere just not towards his mom. He desperately wished to step back and look towards the redhead behind him. He was unusually quiet. But if he did that he'd only come off as more untrustworthy to her. "–I can't slack off. So I've started to give it my all again. Mom, I… I asked for his help."
"Ay, that he did." Reid controlled his voice. He spoke calmly, carefully. Is he playing along? "Saw him one too many times get too close in the danger zone since the disappearances."
"You know the worst could happen, mom. Daytime's limited and even if Reid accompanies me to and back from school you can't expect everything will be fine. …So it's better I know how to handle myself if I'm out?" Damn, am I waxing shitty excuses. If I ever deserved an award in my life, let it be now. Subaru wasn't full out lying, that much was a thing. He was returning home later and later as well as sneaking out with Reid nightly to patrol if possible. Almost each week he came closer to kiss his sorry life goodbye just because he was up against supernatural odds. Or 'Witches', apparently.
"Kid's sure got potential." Reid gingerly tested the waters with a vague remark.
"No…!" Naoko trembled in revolt. "No – no!" her head shook in denial. "You've been repeating this?" Her eyes burned a hole through Subaru, but the intensity behind was surely a result from the guilt he felt. "You're telling me this is something you've been doing every day? Thrill chasing in the night!? Now of all times?! For how long? Subaru, are you expecting this to make sense?"
"Mmh…" Reid grumbled, hiding a somewhat offended look. "I ain't roughing him up daily. Just every other day. Recovery time in between's good, you…" he drawled with an unsure tone. The swordsman contemplated this new feeling. Perhaps this was what had been plaguing him for a pretty long time in recent memory.
Flugel used to repeat it to him at times.
Reid felt a pang of doubt worm its way through him.
"Ah. Why's it always gotta be this difficult?" Reid groaned without intensity from the back. Stuck. Frozen. Afraid.
Simply witnessing someone else dragged down in their business. Someone he was told by lil' fish he had no right to endanger. And someone he figured since first day here he didn't want to see recreate an outcome once lived through.
