XII. Hands Of A Killer
Ryouga's hands were already those of a killer—more than once too.
He could recall that night back in Four - The wind, the waves, the ghostly glow of the moon. The knife that went flying to the sea. How they frantically chased after it, fighting against the current themselves to prevent it from being swept out to the murky depths. In the end, he gave up and drowned his opponent. His wild thrashing and attempts and resistance before lie he still. Ryouga had looked at his hands and found them different than just moments earlier.
(Yet he would always know what the done)
The next time came and the start of the games - the annual inaugural bloodbath. The girl from Seven went to grab an axe, but before she was able to Ryouga grabbed her, throwing her to the ground. The trident pierced herself, again and again leaving a bloody mess of mangled flesh after he had finished. He recalled Two chastising him about needlessly brutality and acts of cowardice and dishonour. Ryouga once again looked at his hands - bloodstained - but that was to be expected after stabbing multiple times.
(Yet he would always see them tinged with red)
The third time came on a hunt - his last few had been disappointingly uneventful, he was hoping that this time blood would be shed. Ryouga had got his wish, but necessarily in the form he was most hungry for. A scared boy, who must have been twelve, froze dead in his tracks we came across Ryouga and his hunting partner. He had hoped for someone he would be willing to put in more of a fight, but in the circumstances, he would take what he could get. It was easy, the boy pretty much let Ryouga do it. The trident pierced right through the boy's body. So deeply embedded was his weapon that Ryouga had wrangled it free. Once again Ryouga's hands were as familiar as they had ever been.
(Yet always remember how the boy's hands desperately clawed at his)
This time it was different. But it should've been. Tethys had been his district partner, but killing a fellow Four didn't make a difference last time. But as she lay beside her bloodied corpse, something felt wretched - something deep within himself felt wretched The hands that he now bore were those of a fiend, crafted for the sole purpose of doing foul deeds. Tethys' slaying was far from first.
That scared boy…
Further back.
Seven during the bloodbath…
Further back.
The peer that he had drowned.
But did not feel the weight of their stolen lives' now? Nothing had changed. But Ryouga knew that answer to the question, the weight had always been there from the very beginning he had been able to ignore until now. It had gotten, heavier and heavier with the passing day. Even the weight of a single life was insurmountable. Yet heavier to still it must grow otherwise the days spent carrying it would have been for nothing.
Ryouga's hands were already those of a killer, what difference did a few more make
(One that he could not understand, how foolish he was back then, thinking he had everything figured out)