Chapter Text
Goddamn it I was worth something, I fucking earned something
I have a right to die, a right to live, a right to choose, too
It was a windy afternoon when Mikey made the decision. The waters stretched before him, lulling him deeper into thought.
Mikey was a selfish person. He was proud, impatient, possessive, capricious, and selfish. All of these things, he discovered over the years, were casually overlooked due to his calm and quiet demeanor. People were always quick to assume, and Mikey would gladly let them. It was not his job to do others’ work, not when all you had to do was look.
Those, his faults of character, were the only thing making him ponder this much before accepting the inevitable solution. He knew what had to be done. He knew how the story would end. He played at being the hero without a hero’s heart.
Mikey caught himself smiling, strangely at peace. The farce had gone on longer than he could have imagined, leaving the world at his feet, and yet he’d never be one to enjoy it. All he did, awful and kind, was for the people who were his. His to love, his to protect, his to keep. He’d do anything to keep them with him, always safe, always provided for.
It wasn't exactly that he cared too much about anything his, but rather a lack of care for anything else. Hate was such a foreign concept to him, it seemed to entail a degree of involvement that he wasn't sure he was capable of. Sometimes a whispering voice in his head pointed out that if he ever had to point out someone he hated, it'd have to be himself. Any event, any heartbreak, any tragedy; if you traced back enough in time you'd find Mikey to be the common link.
Unsurprisingly, as he had learned from Takemichi himself, he was the common denominator for all his loved one’s tragic end in each and every future.
“I have decided,” Mikey said out loud.
No one but the river would hear, but he was fond of rites. His word was final, their futures sealed. Now all that was left for him to do was what he did best: destroy. For their sake. For their safety. Somehow, it was the easiest decision he’d ever make.
And yet. Mikey trembled. He told himself it was the unforgiving January wind. And yet, he thought of his beginnings.