Akiro’s POV
“Akane…!”
I opened the door and saw Akane there. I quickly untied her and felt her arms instantly wrap around me.
“Akiro!”
“Let’s hurry. They’re going after Rena.”
“We need to find Jun as well.”
“Un!”
---------------------------
Rena’s POV
I feel something’s wrong…
I knew as soon as I fell asleep.
“Rena! Don’t---”
I felt something inside me, a monster. Out on a rampage and hungry for blood. The beast that lives within my body.
“I’ll kill you! I’ll kill ALL of you!!!”
“No!!!” My eyes shot open. An excruciating pain enveloped me, as if someone was trying to rip through me.
No, please… don’t come out!
I can’t let her out… I locked her in for a reason…. I locked her away so…
“Found you, Rena-san~”
“E-Eh?” I looked behind me and saw a figure standing with his hands behind his back. “You… how did you find me?”
“A little birdie told me~”
I stood up and started heading for the door as he walked towards me.
“What’s wrong? You scared of me?”
“You? Please!”
“Alright, so… are you mad?”
*Ba-BUMP*
“No..!”
He chuckled. “I wonder how they tamed a beast like you. You could’ve been the perfect soldier if you just… let go.”
“No! I won’t!”
He tried to grab me, but I kicked him and grabbed my gun, aiming it at him.
“Any closer, I’ll shoot…!”
“Tsk, I knew if Akiro couldn’t make you… Then I would’ve done it myself.”
“No… He wouldn’t have told you…!”
He kept laughing. He was mocking me, making my anger boil.
“Stop… stop your laughing,” I cocked the gun. “I mean it..!”
“Now are you mad?”
I shook my head.
“Hee~ your face says otherwise.”
“Shut your mouth!”
“I wonder if that’s why...”
“Haa?”
“The reason you couldn’t protect her… Because you couldn’t be honest with yourself.”
No… that’s..!
“‘Onee-chan~’” he spoke in a mocking voice. “‘I’m sorry, it’s my fault. I couldn’t protect onee-chan.’”
“Stop...”
“‘I couldn’t keep our promise. Please, forgive me, onee-chan!’”
“STOP!!!”
*BANG*
I shot… just missing his face. It sliced his ear.
“Now you’re mad.”
“Onee-chan...”
The voice echoed in my ears, making me drop to the ground.
“Onee-chan… help..!”
“No… Jurina..!”
“You were a mistake!”
“Mama! Papa! Stop hurting onee-chan!”
“I don’t want to be alone...”
Stop… Shut up, shut up, shut up!
“Hehehe… nee… you mad?”
No…! Please no!
I felt him grab me, then something was inserted into my neck. A needle?
I felt something being injected into me and I started feeling dizzy…
“Oyasumi, Rena...”
No…. please…..
Jun’s POV
Why.. Why am I so distanced from society..?
I was strayed from my thoughts when the door suddenly opened and Rena walked out, her head hung low.
“Rena? What’s wrong?”
She didn’t answer. It seemed like there was a void inside her… One that would never be filled again…
“Rena..?”
She looked at me. Her eyes were empty, as if no light could reach the darkness in them…
“Oi… Rena, what happened..? Answer me..!”
“Nee.. you mad?”
“Eh?”
She raised her hand and started biting her nails, giggling softly. It wasn’t like a child’s laugh… it was creepy. It sent chills up my spine listening to it.
“Nee, Jun...”
“H-Hai..?”
“Let’s play~”
She smiled. A scary smile. Inside, I was trembling. She started laughing, but this time, the intensity of it increased.
“R-Rena, what are yo--?”
She suddenly ran towards me, kicking my stomach. I stumbled back because she attacked so suddenly. I wonder what happened to her…
“Rena, stop.”
“Hahaha… you’re weak...”
“Ugh… what’s gotten into you..?”
“C’mon, Jun~ I just wanna have fun.”
“But I don’t.”
I don’t want to raise my weapon against her… but….I just... feel like I have to.
Forgive me, Rena.
I grabbed my knife, gripping onto it.
“Rena… I never wanted to do this to you...”
“Oh, but, Jun, I do~”
She laughed maniacally and ran up to strangle me. I tried to resist the urge of hurting her, but… I instinctively stabbed her lower abdomen.
“Rena...”
She didn’t seem fazed by it. She simply smiled and continued her insane laughter.
“Hey… that felt funny...”
“I know.”
“You’re.. better than I thought….” she started feeling the effects of being stabbed and fell to her knees.
“Being an assassin’s son has it’s benefits, you know.”
“Eh…? That’s weird… my legs feel all numb….”
“Sorry, Rena...”
She looked up at me dizzily. She was slowly losing consciousness.
“Juri..na...”
“Eh?”
Her eyes shut slowly as she collapsed in my arms.
Jurina? Who’s that?
I picked her body up and carried her to my room. There, I started patching up her wound. Her mouth slowly moved, talking as she would do normally.
“Jurina...”
Again? Who is Jurina? Why does she say that every time she’s near me?
Just then, I heard a knock at the door. I went over and opened it to see Yuki standing there.
“Is Rena alright? I heard that Yuko released Gekikara.”
“Gekikara?”
“It’s her other self. A separate personality inside her.”
“That’s why she was acting all crazy.”
“Where is she?”
“Resting in my room. She kept calling someone named ‘Jurina’ in her sleep.”
“Jurina..?!”
He suddenly walked in and went into my room. He looked down at Rena sleeping.
“Yuki… do you know who Jurina is?”
“She was… Rena’s little sister.”
“What happened between them…?”
“I’m not sure exactly what happened… all I know is… Jurina was killed. Rena was the only one in her family who survived.. ever since, she had a heavy burden and feeling of guilt over losing her.”
“How do you know all of this? I mean, you must be extremely close with her to know all of this.”
“Oh… well, actually...”
“Did you guys used to.. date in the past?”
He nodded. “Kinda, yes...”
“Oh.. What happened between the two of you?”
“After the incident… she just broke up with me.”
“I’m sorry about that...”
“It’s fine. That was a long time ago...” he looked at me. “Did she never mention any of this? About her split personality? Or about Jurina?”
“No, nothing. I only grew suspicious about it.”
“Oh, now that’s worrying. I better tell Akiro...”
“Otou-san? Why would he have anything to do with this?”
“Well, I’m a part of the Union.”
“Union?”
“Yes, we’re a group of assassins who work together and I was assigned to spy on the Templars.”
“Then… why..?”
“I work as a double agent. I was sent to kill your father, but then he made a deal with me and we’ve been accomplices ever since.”
“Okay...”
“Anyways, you are lucky to be alive, having Gekikara suddenly awaken. Not many have survived her.”
“She’s that dangerous?”
“Yes. She’s a part of Rena’s darkness, her insecurities. She’s twisted and corrupt, whose only instinct is to kill.”
“I wonder why Yuko would do such a thing...”
“I’ll go and contact Akiro on the matter. Look after Rena until she wakes up.”
“What do I say when she does..?” I asked before he left.
“Just explain to her what happened.”
“Okay.”
As he left, I turned to see her beautiful face. It made my heart skip a beat. I walked over and sat beside her bed, my hand reaching up and holding her hand.
Please wake up…
I closed my eyes for a bit, and unknowingly, I fell asleep….
The next moment, I saw myself in an open field…
What is this place?
“Jun...”
Eh..? Who is that..?
“You must save your family before saving the one your love.”
What..?
“If you are not careful, you will lose both…”
No… What are you? Show yourself!
“Jun!”
“Rena!” My eyes shot open as I woke back up in the room.
“Jun...” I looked and saw Rena was awake, looking at me worried, “What’s going on..?”
“Yuko awakened Gekikara.”
“E-Eh?” Her eyes became widened, shocked at what I said, “I-It can’t be...”
As she tried to stand up, she winced because of the stab wound I had inflicted on her.
“I wouldn’t, if I were you,” I said.
She laid back down, then gave me a serious look.
“How did you know? About Gekikara? I never told you about her...”
“Yuki was just here. He told me.” I held her hands. “Rena… please, tell me… how did you.. how was Gekikara…?”
“You want to know how I got my split personality disorder.”
I nodded.
“Well….”
Flashback
Rena’s POV
It was like any other day. I was with Jurina, studying as we normally would. It was just the two of us at the house, both of our parents were out late at night.
Suddenly, the door swung open and all we heard next was screaming. They were both yelling angrily at each other. Jurina was covering her ears, near to tears as the fight grew intense. There was a loud crash.
“R-Rena-chan…? W-What’s going on?”
“I don’t know...” I got up slowly. “Stay here.”
“But, Rena-chan...”
“Don’t worry...”
I shouldn’t have gone. I shouldn’t have tried to stop them. Maybe then, I would have stayed the same. I wouldn’t have changed, become like this…
But, the pain… it was too much. The physical pain, the mental pain and Jurina’s pain was too much to bare…
And, before I knew it….
SNAP!
“Hehehehe… hahaha… Hahahahaha...”
“Y-you monster!”
“Mama… Papa...”
“Nee, okotteru?”
“I’ll kill you!!!”
“Rena-chan..?”
“Eh...?” I snapped back to my normal self. I found myself covered in blood, both my parents dead on the ground.
“Rena-chan… what..?”
I started crying, falling to the ground.
“No… No.. No..! Jurina… I’m so sorry… I’m sorry...” I kept repeating, holding my head.
I thought Jurina would be afraid of me, of this monster I became. She would scream and push me away, run far away from me…
But… she didn’t.
“Rena-chan, stop crying..!” She came over, kneeling down by my side. I looked her in the eyes.
“Jurina...”
“Please just stop crying, for me..?”
“B-but I...”
“I don’t care about them. I just want you to be safe.”
She hugged me. Even when I was covered in blood, she still hugged me. After all that had happened… she still loved me.
“It’s over… it’s all over now...”
End of Flashback
Jun’s POV
“So… that’s what happened.” Rena held her head. “Why…? Why did this happen?”
“I don’t know… I was just here to look after you.”
“I see….”
“Also… who is Jurina?” I immediately saw her eyes widen. “You were calling out her name in your sleep… who was she?”
“Sh-she… she is...”
“She’s your sister, isn’t she?”
She jumped, a bit shocked. “I-I...”
“Please, tell me. It’s okay. You can let me know...”
Rena stared at me for a few seconds. Then, she started crying and hugged me.
“Rena...”
“Yes… you’re right..! Jurina… she was my little sister… And because of me, she died, and it was never meant to happen…”
I hugged her back. “I’m so sorry...”
“It’s all my fault… because I couldn’t protect her.. Jurina..!”
I stroked the back of her head with empathy.
“It’s alright...”
“Jun...”
To help her calm down, I looked her directly in the eyes and leaned in for a kiss. I could feel her heart pounding against my chest. Like the beat of a drum.
Her soft lips pressed against mine were warm and tasted so sweet. I was getting lost in her flowery scent…
“J-Jun...”
“No matter how hard the situation, I will protect you, Rena.”
“Jun… you even sound like her sometimes...”
I patted her head. “Get some rest. I need to go do some things.”
“Okay...”
I tucked her back in and left the room. I returned to where I talked with Yuki, to find a whole group of people were there.
“Oi, who are you people?!”
“Jun, it’s alright. They’re just my co-workers.” Otou-san walked up to me and lightly tapping my shoulder.
“Otou-san…”
I hugged him, overcome with emotion.
“Thank God… you’re safe.” I parted from him. “How did you escape?”
“Well...I’m at fault...”
“Eh?”
“I… I had to tell him where Rena was being held...”
“Who?”
“Oshima Yuko, right hand man to the leader of the Templars… He seems to have wanted Rena for something...”
Rena? Or perhaps, Gekikara…
“What should we do?”
“We? I was expecting you to protect her… But we’ll help, too~”
“Eh? Why me?” I protested against him, to no avail.
“You seem more acquainted with her, so I decided that.”
I chuckled. “I guess I have no choice.”
“Akiro, big army at 12 O’clock!”
“Eh? Is it the doge’s army, Rion-chan?”
“Yes, and it’s getting larger as we speak!”
“Hmmm…. Oba!”
“Hai!”
“Send out the re-enforcements. It seems an all out war will break loose.”
“Will do, Captain Furukawa.” He ran off, leaving me with otou-san.
“Go protect Rena, we’ll take care of things from here.”
“What?”
“Yuko will do anything to get his hands on her now. The both of you have to run away, as far from here as you can.”
“What about you and oka-san?!”
“We’ll be fine, your mother knows how to protect herself. Just run.” He unsheathed his sword and ran off, “Akane!”
“Un, I’ll be right with you, Akiro. Jun, be safe, okay?”
“Un. I’ll try my best, oka-san… You too~”
“Alright, I’ll be off.” Oka-san took a dagger from a table and ran off, leaving me on my own whilst everyone was flooding out of the room.
“J-Jun...”
“Rena, we need to leave, now!” I grabbed her arm and started running, dragging her with me.
Akiro’s POV
It was a right mess out here… Blood bespattered everywhere, dead, unconscious souls lying on the ground. It was by then we realised that we were outnumbered, by the templars and the Doge’s army.
“Well, well, well…. Look what we have here...”
“Eh?” I looked behind me and saw the Doge himself, Takahashi Kai and the Templars, standing behind him.
“Mr Furukawa Akiro, I suppose you made your son run away with our target~ Tsk, no matter, I will just have to kill you myself.”
“But sir--”
“Yuko, you look for the girl. Mayu, attack his wife. Tell everyone else to go for anyone they see.”
“Yes, sir.” They said simultaneously before running their separate ways.
“As for you. I’ll personally have fun killing you myself, Mr. Furukawa. I will, unless you tell me Matsui Rena’s location.”
“Never. I would rather sacrifice myself, than to unleash a monster to the whole world.”
“Then, so be it.” I gripped my sword tighter as I prepared for the worst.
He pulled out a musket from his back pocket and pointed it at me.
“It’s either you or her, Mr Furukawa. Make your decision wisely.”
“Akiro!!”
“Akane---”
“Too late.”
*Boom!*
I felt a bullet pierce through my body, creating excruciating pain. I dropped to the ground, instantly giving up.
“Akiro! Please, please wake up!!!”
“Aka...ne...” I felt myself dip deeper into darkness and the last thing I saw was Akane crying her heart out before becoming fully unconscious.
Topic: The Creed (MaYuki, WMatsui, FuruYanagi Chap III 15/2/15) (Read 4681 times)