Oshi no Shugosha END - or 'I refuse to kill this poor Idol, you heartless scum!' (Oshi No Ko, Ryosuke!SI)
Kamiki Hikaru was at wits ends.
For years now he tried to claim the life of the one pretty light that had strayed from the grandest beauty. Ai's children- his children... they had shown him that he had to take action before she could 'burn away' and that effort had been mostly futile as someone else interceded.
He knew the truth. He knew who he was facing. The one that had stopped him- the one that had outright fought against a God's demand and successfully led a life that had destroyed the true light Ai was walking into. He should have been instrument for that, and yet he became the one that deconstructed fate itself.
But now, things were different. Hikaru had to expend most of his remaining funds- running from detectives took a while, but he managed to get a lead on where that man was, where he could be going at. He was his target, he would see that this loose end was dealt with before he finished the job with Ai.
Ryosuke had taken a fishing trip with Ai's former manager. A 'bonding experience', and one that allowed Hikaru to sneak by and successfully claim two birds with a stone. He had been tipped off, he had been warned by the Crow God that this was not going to be as easy as he thought it was, but Hikaru was convinced this was an opportunity he couldn't waste.
So he tracked down the location, managed to pursue the duo as they ventured near the lake's edge and then Hikaru prepared to sneak behind Ryosuke as the manager was busy with the boat, to get him somewhere hidden away and do the deed.
What he failed to realize, in his wild desire to finally put an end to the longest desire he had towards a woman, was that he had focused on the wrong threat. The first clue that something was off was the noise of a branch snapping. He spun around, knife ready, but a baseball bat slammed on his head, forcing him on the ground as he passed away while staring listlessly at a masked man standing over him.
He was unconscious for twenty minutes. Hikaru was awakened by a bucketful of cold water being dropped atop his head, his frame entirely shaken as he tensed up, ready to fight- only to realize he had been tied up with chains and ropes by a chair. Both his arms and legs were bound to the chair- said chair bolted on the ground itself.
As he recoiled from the frightening circumstance, he realized that he was encircled by several men. Each looked quite mundane and plain, none really jumping to attention beyond their faces being... familiar to Hikaru. He had seen them before- he never talked to them, but the man recognized the group from somewhere else- multiple places.
His mind opened shortly after, reminding him of where he saw them. Picture frames of family scenes- some he had seen before the deeds, other times after the murders. The smiling faces of those men, taking care of their daughters and sisters.
Those were relatives to his victims. They were all here... for him.
"Are you Kamiki Hikaru-kun?" One of them asked, this one looking a bit bulkier than usual.
"Yes."
"Do you know why we are here, looking for you?"
"...Yes."
"Do you know what will happen to you?"
It hurt to admit, but Hikaru nodded. "Yes."
"Do you know remember our daughters? Those you sweetly seduced and then- then took from us?"
"They were beautiful," He replied breathlessly, a mistake as the bat came swinging and it slammed on his cheek.
The impact shook him on the chair.
"They were. But not to you- never for you," The man speaking snarled. "They had lives, dreams and hopes. You took them away from us!"
He kept quiet, recoiling from the hit and realizing his expected 'duel' was already there. This was Ryosuke's counter to his attempt. Instead of a direct clash, it would be one of concepts. He tried the same as usual, while his adversary had relied on the one thing Hikaru feared the most and had tried to keep buried for so long.
His past crimes, resurfacing all at once just for that last moment in his entire life.
The silence was greeted by a strong slap on his cheek, and he realized the one handing it to him was not a man. But a girl. Young enough to still be in highschool- he recognized her face.
"You are Kasumi's sister. You have the same pretty eyes," He mumbled flatly, another mistake as the men were getting furious at seeing him terrorize the girl with those soulless words.
"I thought- I thought that Ryosuke-san was lying. That there couldn't be such a demon wandering the streets- that my daughter was claimed by the usual monster," Another man, this one quite plain as he waved a simple knife about while approaching him, started to mutter. He was angry, vile and clearly ready for an extreme act if needed. "But then I saw the proof. Then I saw the same evidence with the other girls. Then he told us about your sick and twisted desires for 'beauty'. You... You will not touch a girl ever again, scum!"
The knife was thrusted onto his shoulder. Then another onto his hand and... the violence truly began.
There wasn't anything else that had to be said as the savagery tore him apart. He had lost. They had won. He had won. Ai had won.
The beauty he sought could never be achieved. He endured in an effort of bitterness. Maybe Hikaru wasn't willing to give up just yet. He put everything in his survival, but his attempt was voided by the one thing that he couldn't survive. It was the same girl, Kasumi's sister. She looked still shaken, but even as she was shivering she held the revolver she was given with conviction. He remembered Kasumi and her had been orphans, and now she was all alone.
But as the girl steadied her aim, his failing mind saw a familiar ghost waiting beside her. Arms crossed, a vindictive scowl almost ironically cursing him. He had been broken by a woman... and now he was going to be destroyed entirely by another. One he helped creating into that bitter and vengeful thing.
Hikaru smiled-
BANG!
And that was what remained of him. A vicious smile upon a dying killer's corpse.
-d-d-d-d-
A few years later...
It was morning and a little girl with short blue hair was getting shaken out of bed by a giggling entity.
"A-yu-mi-tan~! It's a big day, get up."
"Hmmm... can we delay?" She growled softly against the pillow.
"Nope~!"
And then Ayumi 'screeched' as she was yanked off of bed by her mother and carried to the bathroom.
The giggling monster, as Ayumi called her from time to time, was Saitou Ai. She was a gorgeous woman that was also his mother and a 'proud housewife' as she tended to proclaim from time to time. To someone as young as Ayumi, who would always think her mother more inclined into acting and being an actress, this felt so weird but also fitting due to how her mother loved being there at home to take care of them.
Still, she could be a pain in the bum depending on special occasions and, despite her own whining regarding waking up too early, the girl knew that today was going to be a big day. It was time for her big bro and big sis, her twin elderly siblings, to graduate from high school.
She was still stuck in elementary school, but at least now she could enjoy the holidays- if not for those events that demanded her to be awake early in the morning. Her mother helped her through the hassle of that bathroom ritual and the two were soon sitting by the table with the rest as Ayumi took time to address the rest of her family.
Dad, Ryosuke, was back from a week-long trip for an acting role. Despite his own irritation at the job, the highly-paying roles he would get would be well-received. Enough that mother had set a blacklist to keep track of the worst fangirls he had started to get.
Big brother, Aquamarine or 'Aqua-bro' as Ayumi called him, was actually a level-headed young man that was quite close to their father, but also extremely polite and less 'mean-spirited' due to his naivety.
Big sister, Ruby or 'Ruby-baka', was close enough to be a copy of mother, except younger and louder. She whined, she complained, and she wanted to be a social moron far too many times than she should. Ayumi was, by all definition, the antithesis of both her parents.
She looked absolutely nothing like her father, having inherited her looks from her mama, but was quite the 'mean-spirited' girl herself like her father tended to be. The 'fruit of their love', or whatever poop mom would conjure out of her lovey-dovey moments.
This morning was not too different than the rest- the twins were clearly excited, but they were handling it their own ways rather than be either too loud or too quiet about it. And Ayumi could also see her father smiling a bit more than usual. She couldn't blame him- that was a big day for her big siblings, so it was fair for them to be praised some more compared to usual.
Despite the fact Ruby-baka will keep on being weird around dad from time to time.
As the family was done eating and cleaning, they all moved to the large SUV that was their family car. Big enough to carry them all, and fancy enough to make some of her classmates envious of her 'lavish' life.
It wasn't Ayumi's fault that she had to exert some smugness out of pure random 'flexes' from time to time.
The ride was brief as the road to the small town they lived in was quite devoid of activity. All parents arrived at different hours, and there was enough space for all to park their cars and be ready to see the graduation event for their children. It was a bubbly experience- now that the slumber-driven dread was gone, Ayumi felt quite taken by the emotion all around herself.
She smiled and clapped her hands when her brother and sister got their certification and-
"A photo, take a photo!" Mom demanded, hugging her older children close while Ayumi and her father shared a 'eye-rolling' moment before the girl was given the honor to take the picture and...
CLICK!
It was... perfect. As things have been for them and will always be as far as Ayumi cared.
AN
To answer some 'questions' readers may have:
1) Ayumi is 12, Aqua/Ruby are 18;
2) Ayumi's name was picked by Ai (again) and she chose her mother's own name- a chance to start anew;
3) Likewise, Ryosuke and Ai picked the manager and his wife's last name as theirs. So, they are all now known as the 'Saitou Family';
Last answer, quite the big one, this is truly the first snippet story I finished like this in the Archive. So, it was a fun ride as it was.