Author's Note: Again, the joys of Facebook saves. This is a 2P!Japan-focused story. I just saw a picture of an anime guy with a sword and worked there. Then another post about fatal familial insomnia came along and worked from here. I am working on a short story to go with this scene. I have started on it and now the challenge is to stay focused on it. That story won't be posted on here because it's an OC as the lead. You will have to find that one on Wattpad. Speaking of stories, I think we will be going back to England for next week. I need to think about how I'm going to wrap up this season. I already know what I am doing for the other two series. I just don't know how to wrap up this season/series. For now, enjoy this week's match.

Match Thirty-Three: Ryou:

Kuro was dragging closer to the center. He was going to be one of the first ones to see how this was going to play out. He walked up to a jet-black door at the end of the hall. Ah, here it was. The man smirked and knocked on the solid wood.

"Enter," a muffled voice said on the other side. The doorknob turned and creaked open. Kuro walked inside.

The smell of cigarettes was the first thing he noticed. Kuro tried to look around in the dark.

"Hello?" he asked. "Is anybody in here?" The dark Japanese man slowly walked into the room. His eyes adjust to the endless black. The simple looked fairly simple. Just a side table, a lamp, and two chairs. There was nothing else in here.

However, he is not alone.

"Oh, there you are," Kuro said. A man in a nice black suit sat in a plush black chair. He looked so worn out. A beard was in the middle of growing on his face. He held his sword by his side. Kuro closed the door behind him as he took a step forward.

"How did the good doctor rope you into this?" he asked. The man looked up at his guest.

"Oh, it's you," he said in a dull tone. This man would rather be back in bed.

"Aw, cheerful as ever, I see," he said. Kuro sat down in the chair across from him.

"So tell me. Why are you here?" I asked. "What did he promise you in return?" The man didn't answer.

"Come on," the Japanese man said. "Talk to me. Why are you here?" The other man answered in a quiet voice.

"Hm?" Kuro asked. "What did you say?"

"Freedom."

The dark Japanese man whistled. "Oh-ho! I see. Tell me, do you really think he can do that for you?" The other man didn't answer. Kuro waved his hand back and forth.

"Okay, let me rephrase that. Do you think he will do that for you?" he asked. "What about your little prisoner?" The man rose to his feet.

"Would you like to come with me?" he asked. Kuro cocked his head to the side.

"What for?" he asked. The man rested his hand on the wall behind his chair.

"There is something that I have to show you," he said. The wall opened up into a doorway. The tired man walked through the new passage. Curious, Kuro got up and followed behind.

Only their footsteps filled the hallway. The tired man held out his hand in front of him and swiped it from left to right. A blast of white filled up the darkness. Kuro had to shield his eyes.

"Gah!" he shouted. His guide walked through the light.

"Come!" he said. Kuro followed behind.

The white padded walls were hard to miss. Kuro looked left and right. His eyes took a second look around before he noticed a figure in the corner. A man with a shaved head sat in the corner rocking back and forth. His mouth moved like it was mumbling something to himself. The man settled into place. Kuro got a better look at him.

This man looked like a skeleton wearing stretched-out, worn skin. His dark hair was unruly. Heavy bags sat under his eyes. A straitjacket held his frail body in place. The tired man walked over to him. His prisoner looked up, shaking his head.

"No. No. No!"

The man stood over him. Kuro stood back and watched the scene. He had heard about this. He thought this was just a rumor. But now…

Kuro let out a low whistle.

Both men looked up. The prisoner looked like he was about to have a heart attack.

"W-W-Who is that?" he asked. "Is he going to…? No. Oh god! Please don't!" The other man shook his head.

"No."

His prisoner looked confused. "No?"

"He is here to observe."

"What?" He slowly shook his head. The man turned to Kuro.

"This is my prisoner. Would you like to know what he did to end up here?" he asked. The Japanese man was intrigued.

"What did he do?" he asked. The other man put his hand on the prisoner.

"This man is a monster," he said. "He has harmed a maiden. Brought her into ruin. She tried to kill herself because of it. She didn't succeed." He grabbed the desperate man by the hair and pulled him upward.

"However, this man went unpunished. Her parents would do anything to see justice."

Kuro cocked his head to the side. "I never took you as the justice type. So what is the deal here?" The other man let go of the prisoner's hair. The weakened man collapsed over. He wasn't going to last long.

The guide walked out of the padded room. Kuro followed him back down the hallway. The men didn't say a word as they walked back to the other room. They sat down in their respective seats. Kuro lifted his chin.

"What now?" he asked. The other man didn't answer. The Japanese man sat back in his chair. Nothing to do but sit and wait.

They met during the war. This man with the sword was a starving boy at the time. He doesn't remember his home or his family. He doesn't remember if he was loved or not. His earliest memory was of smoke and fire. Screams filled the air that night. People were running away. It was all in vain. They were going to die. He himself stayed in hiding. Someone tried to get him to go with them. But he couldn't. The boy pulled back his arm. He just sat in the corner of the house and waited for the end.

Everything was quiet in the morning. Still, the boy didn't move. Even when he heard footsteps walking toward him. A hand rested on his head.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" a voice asked. The boy didn't budge. Someone lifted his head up. Kuro looked down with a little smirk.

"You're still alive, huh?" he asked. The Japanese man whistled. He knelt down to the child.

"Why didn't you run?" Kuro asked in a whisper. The boy did not answer. He just stared at him.

"Heh," the man said. He let go of the boy's hair. Now, Kuro never intended on saving anyone that day. The kid seemed to want to die anyway. Oh well. It was what it was. Who was he to get in the way of that?

Still, there was something in the kid's eyes. It wasn't despair. It wasn't rage. There was just… Kuro couldn't think of a proper name at the time. Still, it held his attention. He turned to walk away but looked over his shoulder.

"Tell you what," Kuro said. "If you survive the war and everything that comes after, you and I will see each other again. After that…" He took a moment to think about that before he shrugged.

"I don't know. We'll have to see then," Kuro said. He walked out of the ruined house. The boy lifted his head. And just like, Kuro was gone. His words shifted something in the boy that he couldn't understand. He stood up and began walking out of the house.

They met three more times in his life. Once in 1970, again in 1999, and once again to the now. That boy grew into a man. Other than that, nothing about him had changed. He had a new job. Kuro still can't make out what he sees in this man's eyes.

However, that might not matter anymore. For they both were about to play bigger roles that wouldn't leave them much time to get caught up with each other.

The grand finale of the game was coming.