Chapter Text
The world was covered in an inky black swirl, the air was too thick to breathe, yet just when it felt like this would never end, the darkness pulled away, and a figure found himself in the light.
1010 white... no Rin found himself in an unfamiliar setting, on the roof of some sort of school building, overlooking the city below, it felt exaggerated from reality though, the buildings stretched far into the sky it nearly stabbed into the clouds, the ground below felt like a dark void.
And before him stood a figure looking out into it. Her silhouette felt familiar yet... different .
A girl, couldn’t be much older than him, with short, unkempt hair. She wore a jacket with a fur hood, and baggy pants that covered her shoes.
He couldn’t explain why she looked familiar but… he felt compelled to speak to her.
“Excuse me?” Rin called out, getting the others attention. When the girl looked back her expression was one of surprise, but there were clear traits of exhaustion. Heavy bags under her eyes, and a dead look on her face.
Only one word came to his mind to describe it
Hopelessness
“…why are you here?” She mumbled, voice groggy from exhaustion.
“I…” Rin paused, why was he here? He wasn’t sure. After thinking a moment, he spoke. “I think… I’m here for you.” He looked up.
“Why are you here, miss?” He asked. The woman was silent for a long moment before looking back out at the void below her.
“…I’m.. thinking of disposing of a problem”
“A…problem?” Rin echoed, confused, but seeing that look on her face.. he quietly gasped, wait she couldn’t mean-
“I was always the failure” she said, sticking out her hand.
She stuck out a finger
“Failure at school”
Another finger extended
“Failure at home,”
Another
“Failure at life”
Another
“All I’ve ever been is a failure of a human being.” She let her hand drop onto the railing.
“The only thing I’ve ever been good at... was being the villain in other people’s stories” she looked over to Rin.
“Can you blame me for deciding to be that?”
The more he looked at her the more familiar she felt, her hair fell in a way that reminded him of someone he knows, yet the name is escaping him.
But he couldn’t focus on that, he felt compelled,
He had to get her off the edge.
“But, you don’t have to do that! You can be more than that! There’s other ways!” Rin tried to reason but the woman shook her head
“...you want to know what my other option was?”
Rin gulped as slowly, the woman pointed over the edge
Into the inky black abysses below
“I’d have been better off hurling myself over the edge. Becoming one last mistake for others to clean up after”
he was losing her, he felt his heart race as he spoke again, desperate.
“But- but you can’t just do that! There’s so much to live for-“
“Don’t give me that crap !” The girl snapped, almost growling. “I’ve heard that said so many times. ‘There’s so much to live for’ ‘don’t throw your life away’ bullshit !” her grip on the railing tightened.
“If I’m worth so much why is it that everyone stops giving a shit the moment I’m off the edge? Am I only of value when I’m about to be unavailable ?? Is that what I’m worth? An investment !?” The world around them stated to bubble, jet black ink leaking from every corner and crack. The girl pulled herself up onto the railing. Even now it started to marble with a familiar color of that horrible slime
“…if you want me to come down, you’ll have to give me something better than that”
Rin's eyes widened in shock, he held out an arm.
“W-wait no!”
A name finally came to his lips
“ INKY !”
But the girl had already jumped, immediately her body was consumed by the swirling ink, launching into the air in a flurry of feathers.
Sticky, thick ink started to coat the floor, raining from the sky in a barrage of droplets and feathers. Rin tried to shield himself but the liquid was only consuming him. Climbing further and further up his body until it threatened to drown him.
And just before it could reach his face-
Rin gasped as he sat up from his bed. Heart pounding in his chest.
What… what was that? A dream? He clutched his chest as his heartbeat raced, thoughts swirling just as fast.
That… that had to be an ability from that monster… the dream one they battled so long ago.. yet why did it only show now?
… Rin calmed himself down, remembering that breathing technique neon taught him. And slowly, his heartbeat calmed. Rin looked out into the dark of his room, his mind trying to make sense of it all….
That dream… it had to be from her wasn’t it?
“Inky Blue…” Rin whispered to himself. “If… if that’s a dream she had… no wonder she’s such a strong monster.” And yet he still felt himself ache.
Minion class monsters were born from people, people who experienced intense emotions so powerful they became an extraordinary monster.
Rin wondered… if they can talk down a living class monster, there has to be a way to purity a minion class too.
“Inky… I’ll find a way to help you. I promise”