Archive of Our Own

∘◦ ᘛ⁐̤ᕐᐶ ⋯ ᘛ⁐̤ᕐᐶ ⋯ ᘛ⁐̤ᕐᐶ ◦∘

people are greedy.

nataku knows that much.

whenever he interacts with someone, it seems, they want him to do something; to be something. and because nataku knows the consequences of not doing or being these things, he never says no. he will never say no. when it comes to his mother, if he denies her demands he’ll get punished. when it comes to his father, if he denies his demands, he’ll hurt his mother. when it comes to his friends at school, if he denies their demands, they won’t be his friends anymore.

these examples, to nataku at least, are facts of life. his mother wants him to get good grades, to be a doctor, to be better than his father. nataku will never point it out, because his mother is a smart woman, but he’s only ten years old. his father beats his mother when nataku does bad. he holds it over her head, that she stays home and takes care of their so-called pride and joy while he’s hard at work. he holds it over her head that the only reason she can live is because of him.

nataku doesn’t like it when his parents fight. since nataku could verbalize his thoughts, they’ve been doing their best to handcraft him into a perfect child. so, to keep his mother safe, he will do as she says. it feels good to be praised, anyways. his teachers praise him, too. but the other kids at school get jealous. nataku has thankfully avoided confrontation from the school’s bullies so far, but he’s not sure how long his lucky streak will continue.

when nataku first meets rekka hoshimiya, he’s hiding in the park. he only got 87 of 100 marks on his science test, and he knows what will happen if he goes home. he knows it’s useless to prolong the inevitable, but he can’t help it. he’s in the park, swaying on the swing, but only slightly. his father says playing with toys and going to the park is too childish for his nataku. rekka is talking with an older man who has an eyepatch, he later learns his name is leonard burns.

rekka looks so happy. nataku can feel the boundless energy that comes from the man, and he wonders how a person can do that. nataku is so tired, he’s so, so tired. he and rekka meet each others gazes, and he can hear the man proclaim his excitement to the other man. rekka rushes over, and sits down on the seat next to nataku.

“oh, the youth!”

he has a strange accent.

nataku looks to meet his eyes.

“boy, why are you out so late?” the older man asks. he moves so quietly, nataku hadn’t noticed him coming.

“i didn’t want to go home yet,” nataku looks down.

the older man meets eyes with rekka, who shrugs in turn.

“well, wanna come to the fire station? i’m a priest, so you can stay with us!” rekka says, and then, an almost visible lightbulb turns on above his head, “it’s safer anyways!”

the older man gives a look of approval, and nataku thinks what the hell, he might as well.

when he nods his head, rekka’s face impossibly lights up more, and nataku walks amicably behind him as he marches to the station with a nearly tangible pride. the older man has a practiced kind of indifference.

“so, tell me, what’s your name?” rekka asks on the way. the sky is getting darker, but the street lamps aren't turning on.

“nataku. nataku son.”

seemingly pleased, rekka smiles.

“well then, nataku-kun, would you like anything to drink?”

“my friends call me takkun,” nataku states, “do you have any juice?” he asks.

“we do, we do, takkun!” and then he promptly leaves and returns with orange juice. nataku likes orange juice.

nataku carefully holds the glass, and rekka simply puts his head in his hands. he seems like a nice man, and he hasn't asked anything of nataku yet. he recalls his mother telling him to never go with strangers, but that was the least of his concerns at the moment. rekka chats with him, and he really is a nice man. he makes nataku laugh, even.

he observes the other people in the cathedral. through the open door to the garden, he sees a man with blue hair talking to another blonde man, who seems to be listening intently. the man with blue hair had smiled at rekka, and the blonde man had waved at them. he sees plenty of old men walk through, and a very clumsy girl. the clumsy girl somehow slips, trips rekka, and ends up kissing him. she promptly smacks him, and runs away. rekka wipes his lips, and laughs. rekka’s laugh is contagious, so nataku laughs too.

when the sun sets, rekka, upon the order of the older man from earlier, walks nataku home. they talk some more, well mostly rekka talks and nataku adds commentary. when they arrive at nataku’s house, rekka smiles for the millionth time.

“we gotta meet again later, takkun! you seem promising!” rekka says to him before he leaves.

nataku hadn’t done anything, and rekka had seen something in him. it’s cryptic, the way he said it, what exactly does he seem promising for? regardless, nataku practically keens from the unprompted praise. when he enters his house, all of his worries come crumbling back on him. that’s right, he got a bad grade, but it seems that’s not what his mother is worried about. she comes running for him, she sweeps him up in her arms and she holds him close.

“oh, takkun, i thought you ran away! i was so worried!” she says.

his father stands menacingly in the doorway, and his mother seems shaky. nataku only realizes after he’s in bed, that neither of his parents asked to see his science test. he goes to bed, and thinks about the stars in rekka’s eyes.

∘◦ ᘛ⁐̤ᕐᐶ ⋯ ᘛ⁐̤ᕐᐶ ⋯ ᘛ⁐̤ᕐᐶ ◦∘

the next time rekka and nataku meet, rekka is surrounded by more kids. nataku was a little upset, because he was special, but now he’s not. despite that nasty feeling of jealousy settling in his belly, being with rekka is a breath of fresh air. he enjoys rekka’s presence, and he learns to enjoy the presence of the other kids, too.

over the course of about three months, nataku spends the time he would usually spend camping out in the park with rekka. he spends more time with the other kids, and even though he’s having fun,he can hear his mother’s nagging. he should be spending this time studying. but nataku doesn’t want that. he wants to be a kid! he’s tired of worrying about everything, and rekka makes it feel like he doesn’t have to. he can’t afford to let that go.

one day, rekka asks nataku and the other children to go to a special building with him. and nataku agrees. the clumsy girl, tamaki, goes with them, and when they arrive, the sun is casting a pretty golden light through the building. it makes nataku feel at ease. it’s when nataku is thinking about nothing and everything at the same time that shit hits the fan.

before nataku can understand what’s happening, a small vial with something black is pressed against his chest by rekka and everything becomes hot, it’s hot, hot, hot hot hothothothothot.

he hears rekka talking, but he can’t make out the words due to the blood pulsing through his ears. he sees a man with a smirk like the devil come from the sky, but what happens after that is a mystery, because nataku can feel his consciousness slip away.

when he wakes up again, it takes him more than a few seconds to make sense of his surroundings. everything, including the air he breathes, feels too clean. for a few seconds, he thinks he’s in heaven, because everything is white. it must be nighttime, because only the artificial l.e.d. lights shine on him. the light of the holy sol is nowhere to be seen, and nataku wants to cry.

in the span of a few days, nataku is released from the hospital. his arm is still sore from where the i.v. went in. his parents apparently visited him once, but nataku must’ve been asleep, because he doesn’t remember. he walks home from the hospital. on one of the billboards in town, he sees a headline about a man from company one dying in a fight against an undefined evil. that man must be rekka, nataku thinks.

in the end, everyone asks for something. and most of the time, no isn’t even an option. rekka had just asked for his life, essentially.

when nataku returns home, he almost wishes he would have died. his mother is in a pitiful state, no doubt by cause of his father. she seems to have bruises everywhere, but regardless, she smiles, and embraces nataku. she grimaces only slightly. his father is at work when he returns, so he doesn’t have to worry about getting his share for a little.

the very next day, nataku treks to school, collects his make-up work, and continues like nothing had happened. he spends nearly a week completing it all, and he continues to receive perfect marks. one of his teachers asked if he was alright, but of course, nataku just smiled and assured her that his ‘family matter’ had been resolved. he’s not stupid enough to say anything else, and she’s not stupid enough to ask about anything else.

the school has his medical records, anyways.

one day, after he comes home from school, plops himself at the table, and starts his math homework, a strange man knocks on the door. his mother rushes to get it, and when she opens it, the strange man immediately starts talking about strange things. from his position he can hear words like ‘haijima corporation… your son… third generation… needed for data collection…’ and he simply disregards it and continues to figure out how to solve for x.

his mother invites the man in, and as tactfully as a pineapple, he explains the situation to nataku.

“nataku son, you are required to come to a haijima corporation observatory for screening regarding your pyrokinesis,” he says, with no room for argument or addition in his tone.

“you… want to take my son away?” his mother asks dumbly.

“essentially, yes.”

“you… can’t do that. i’m sorry but i don’t think you understand our situation very well.”

it’s obvious his mother is worried about his father’s reaction to this.

“ma’am, with all due respect, you have no authority in this decision, and if you do not willingly surrender him, we will have to take him by force.”

with that, his mother concedes and he is set to leave his house the next day at 15:00.

she helps him pack his bags.

“takkun, i know you can come home soon,” she begins.

“there’s no way that the flame’s power can get the best of you, isn’t that right? you can do it, right?” she asks.

“yes, i can,” nataku replies without hesitation.

“you can do it, right?”

“yes, i can.”

just before she closes his door for the night, she says something.

“be a good boy and do what they say. come back home to your mother soon. your father… he’ll miss you. so come back quickly.”

nataku thinks that’s her way of saying ‘i’m sorry i failed you,’ but it could just be her trying to keep him home so she doesn’t get beaten within an inch of her life. nataku understands. he doesn’t want his mom to get hurt.

he still goes to school the next day. his mother doesn’t wake him up that day, but his father does. ah, nataku thinks, he must know. the last few words his father says to him are “don’t disappoint me, son.”

∘◦ ᘛ⁐̤ᕐᐶ ⋯ ᘛ⁐̤ᕐᐶ ⋯ ᘛ⁐̤ᕐᐶ ◦∘

the first day he spends at the facility feels not right. he gets his measurements taken, and then is shuffled into a colorful room. he counts thirteen children other than himself. in the center sits a woman with long dark blue hair and short bangs. she seems to be a puppeteer of some type, and is amusing the younger kids with a puppet show featuring her ‘dominions.’ nataku thinks the name sounds too dangerous, too sinister. on her belt, there’s an angel, but nataku does not associate her with good.

later that day, some people in white coats come in, and drag him into a room, where they find a sleeve of appropriate length to cover his arm. they once again shuffle him out into the playroom, and the woman smiles at him. instead of being warm, it’s cold and creepy. periodically, children are excused from the room by people in lab coats, and they never return. nataku starts watching the lone clock in the room. at 17:30, all of the children stand up at the sound of a bell, and in a single file line, they walk to a cafeteria. at 18:00, the bell rings out once more, and the children walk back to the playroom.

promptly at 19:00, there’s another bell. they shove him and the other children, he counts six, into a shower room. at 19:30, they force all of them back out, assisting those who need assistance in putting their clothes back on, and then, they are all put into individual rooms. nataku’s room is cold and impersonal, and the lone blanket on his bed is not even close to being able to adequately shut out the chilled sensation that has settled deep into his bones.

on the third day, a very strange man, with bandages covering one of his arms, presses himself to the glass. he mumbles something nataku cannot hear, and makes direct eye contact with him. it’s almost uncomfortable. he is tall and lanky, with short black hair and a peculiar set of eyes. if he were not in a work get-up, nataku would assume he’d be donning a straightjacket.

he spends his first four days following some schedule that isn’t written anywhere, before he is pulled out of the room. some of the children called out on the first day had since returned, so nataku is less worried about his fate. children he had not seen before had also entered the playroom. they lead him to a separate room, which somehow feels even colder than the others. he stands on a very slightly elevated square before the strange man from the third day walks in. he is scared for a moment, but he quickly schools his expression into that of indifference.

his uniform had come in the meantime, and he burrows the lower half of his face further into the raised collar.

over the intercom in the room, the scientists exclaim that they are hopeful to get some good results from nataku. he looks to the man again.

the man starts with a short introduction of himself.

“this is combat training, and i am kurono.”

“oh, i’m nataku son.”

there’s a skull on his belt and tie pin, but nataku doesn’t think that kurono is bad.

in just a moment, black smoke begins to fill the room, and nataku, being as short as he is, tries not to inhale it, they’ve barely begun and nataku is already suffocating. he thinks he sees a smile on kurono’s face. nataku falls to his knees, and when he believes himself to be on the edge of consciousness, he sees rekka in his mind.

“click! fire! i know you can do it! you can do it! after all, you’ve been chosen by the insects! show them how hot-blooded you are! show them how passionate you are! fire!!”

it rings in his mind, and then he feels that same feeling of his arm being too hot for comfort. he can hear himself begin to yell, and it speeds up how much he’s inhaling, but he doesn’t pay mind to that. the fire he produces is unsteady and unpredictable. but, unable to rise above the smoke, nataku passes out quickly, and his unconscious mind projects images, memories, of being with rekka. it makes him feel uneasy, even in sleep; the only escape he has.

kurono didn’t even have to take off his bandages all the way to fight the kid. his weakness is refreshing. like a breath of fresh air, and kurono wants more. when they pull the kid out on a stretcher, he wants to beat his face in. he’s so pitifully weak. kurono can’t wait to beat him again, this time harder. he doubts he’ll get another go at him for a while, though.

kurono hopes he stays weak forever.

when nataku wakes up again, his esophagus feels raw, and all he wants to do is curl up in bed and sleep forever. instead, he peels one of the apples left at his bedside. he thinks that maybe a shinigami brought them. was he supposed to die? if so, why did sol keep letting him defy his fate. nataku didn’t want to be here, nor did he want to go home. but what else was left?

nataku felt like he was in purgatory.

∘◦ ᘛ⁐̤ᕐᐶ ⋯ ᘛ⁐̤ᕐᐶ ⋯ ᘛ⁐̤ᕐᐶ ◦∘

nataku is allowed to rest for the entirety of his fifth day, and on the sixth day, he is once again placed in the playroom. except this time, instead of being greeted by the puppeteer lady, he sees kurono. he is sitting in the puppeteer’s chair, and he is reading a book, but not aloud. some of the kids cower in the corner, away from kurono. nataku is not scared, albeit a little on edge, and instead, he sits right beside kurono.

“hey, how did you do that a few days ago?” he asks.

seemingly a little surprised, kurono looks away from his book.

“it’s my ignition ability.”

“oh.”

nataku is intrigued by the strange man who beats up children for a living.

“what’s wrong with your arm?” nataku tries.

“i’ve got tephrosis.”

“and you still fight?”

“i like to do it.”

all of the man’s responses are short and clipped, and nataku is unsure as to why. he doesn’t seem particularly annoyed. maybe that’s just how he talks. he’s still interesting to talk to, though. before he has more time to think about kurono’s strange mannerisms, however, he begins talking again.

“because you passed out so quickly yesterday, i got yelled at. this is your uncle shinigami’s job, too, you know.”

the statement is so strange that nataku thinks those words have never been strung together in that order before that very moment. it’s almost laughable, how weird this situation is. scratch almost, it is laughable, and nataku begins to giggle. maybe it’s the madness settling in from being in this facility for nearly a week, but nataku truly finds it funny.

kurono seems surprised that he’s laughing.

“ah, that’s just a weird thing to say,” nataku explains, “do you eat lunch with the rest of us?”

“i do, yes,” kurono answers.

as if the bell had been waiting for nataku to ask that, it rings out, and the other children quickly file out of the room. nataku follows kurono out.

nataku spends lunch sitting across from kurono, but they don’t talk. it’s not an uncomfortable silence, either. it’s after lunch, that nataku gets called out of the playroom, and for a second, he thinks he’s going to have to fight again, but instead, they take him somewhere else. like a doctor’s office, nataku decides.

two doctors walk in, and they don’t bother to introduce themselves. they tell him to sit down, and begin straight away.

“yesterday, during the experi… combat training, your mental state became unstable. can you think of any reason as to why that may be? i understand that you gained your abilities from a strange experience… could it possibly be post-traumatic stress disorder?” one doctor says, and then looks to the other doctor.

they phrase their statements as questions but it’s obvious that they do not care for nataku’s responses.

“yes, yes, that would make the most sense. he’s got post-traumatic stress disorder, then.”

it’s strange how they diagnose him with no knowledge of the actual patient, but nataku doesn’t really care. if having scary hallucinations lets him leave earlier, he won’t bother to stop them. the pair of doctors begin talking more, but nataku tunes them out, staring at some poster on the wall and wishing it was a window. he hears fragments of sentences, but he can’t make sense of them.

“unfit for experiments… legality… lawsuits… valuable specimen… possible adolla burst… can’t lose… continue tests…”

the doctors don’t say anything and nataku doesn’t ask, and when he returns to the playroom, kurono is no longer there. the puppeteer lady sits in his place. she’s once again playing with the dominions, amusing the other children, and nataku decides to watch this time around. he has to admit, the show is pretty silly. when she’s finished, and is merely talking with the others, nataku looks out of the window, hoping to see someone new.

nataku continues with the strange schedule for a long while. during the three or four months, nataku has lost count, he’s been observed countless times, but he’s only ever fought kurono one other time. he’s only ever hallucinated rekka one other time. he talks with kurono more, too. nataku realizes that kurono is probably at the facility for more than just work. there’s something wrong with him.

the other children, and even some of the scientists, call kurono ‘the maddest.’

he’s a man that likes to bully the weak.

he’s a man that likes to hurt children.

he’s a man that deals with the worst of tephrosis pains just to hurt; to destroy.

some may say that the passion the universe wasted on kurono could’ve been better placed. nataku may agree with them in some respects, but he thinks kurono is admirable. sometimes, the things kurono says to him are hurtful, but that’s his job, isn’t it? to break children down so they can produce certain results. the expectations nataku faced from his parents are replicated here too. the friends are the same. the scientists act like his parents, except they don’t beat each other in front of nataku.

the new rekka is kurono.

nataku has learned his lesson, and he treads carefully. he will wait until kurono asks him to do something, and then he’ll lose everything again.

but this time, he’s ready.

whenever that day comes, he’ll be ready.

because he can do it.

∘◦ ᘛ⁐̤ᕐᐶ ⋯ ᘛ⁐̤ᕐᐶ ⋯ ᘛ⁐̤ᕐᐶ ◦∘

the day of nataku’s third test with kurono is hard. he’s on edge. rekka has been popping up in his mind more. unprovoked, and seemingly with no pattern, nataku is tortured with the man’s voice. he always says the same things. he always makes nataku’s arm burn with a need to release the heat building in his bloodstream. release it all until there’s nothing left of him or the world. whichever comes first.

kurono was holding back, nataku thinks as he’s carried out of the room.

it’s a few more days, and then, when nataku is sitting in the playroom, his mind feels like it splits in half. his vision is clouded by nothing but black, and he registers himself screaming into the ground his deepest desires. he feels the presence of someone else, but he doesn’t know them. when nataku comes back to, he’s still in the playroom, in the same spot, and his jaw is clamped shut.

nobody is looking at him funny. it makes nataku’s head hurt. did he scream or not?

the day is a multiple of six, because kurono is in the room with the children. there’s a pattern. while the puppeteer lady is there most of the time, every sixth day, she leaves for a good portion of the day and kurono watches over them. kurono gets called out early though, and the puppeteer is also absent. for the first time since nataku had arrived at the facility, there’s no supervisor.

they spend a few hours like that, and then a strange bell rings. nataku recognizes it as the emergency bell, and the kids hastily rush out to hide in their rooms. nataku’s brain is scattered, and rekka takes advantage of that. nataku can barely see, and then the flames are pouring out. his fireproof sleeve protects the room and his other body parts as the temperature continues to rise. he’s screaming, for real this time.

nothing that’s happening makes sense. in a second, his room clouds with smoke, and he’s grabbed by his throat and taken away. the smoke ensures that nataku can’t see anything. he holds his sleeve over his face so he doesn’t pass out. he’s being swung around a lot. and when he hears kurono say something, the smoke clears.

he can see the outside world.

for the first time in a while.

the sky is still blue.

“let me go! i haven’t done anything!” nataku screams like he’s feral.

and then he sees rekka again.

“not doing anything won’t cut it! unless you get fired up, it won’t… cut… it!” and, “you’ve got this! i know you do!” fill his mind.

there are more people talking, but he can’t hear what they’re saying; rekka’s voice is too loud.

kurono says something, but he still can’t hear anything over the voices in his own head. kurono starts fighting the others, and nataku remains in his choke hold. he remains as such for a while, and when kurono begins talking again, rekka’s voice gets quieter.

“stop treating him so rough!” one of the people who kurono was fighting earlier says. in response, kurono adjusts him so he’s carrying him by his midsection. it’s a little more comfortable, but nataku isn’t particularly worried about that right now, because a large man falls from the sky like a piano, looking like an angel as he sports all white.

kurono dodges with no apparent effort.

“the sixth pillar is ours!” he yells.

kurono and the new man engage in a little combat, but the man claps his hands together, and before nataku can figure out what’s happening, he’s sent flying to the ground, and is grabbed by some other men dressed in similar white clothes.

“grab the sixth pillar!” they say, but nataku doesn’t know what they’re talking about.

he pleads to be let go, but his cries fall on deaf ears.

while he begs, a new cloud of black smoke covers the men that have nataku. nataku is scared.

nataku is crawling away when a man wearing the special fire force uniform grabs him.

“you have nothing to worry about now, nataku-kun!” he says.

but before nataku can scream some more, he’s snatched away by the man who descended like an angel.

“sixth pillar, you are not to leave me,” the man states scarily.

but once again, before he can react, he’s slung over kurono’s shoulder like a sack of potatoes. he can feel the rumble of kurono’s voice.

“that’s an educational bear. the boy belongs to haijima.”

“a bear?”

“got him!”

and then two boys from company eight grab him from kurono.

they start arguing as they run, quibbling back and forth.

a burst of fire sends nataku shooting upwards, and he’s grabbed by a member of the special fire force again. at this point, they’re basically playing basketball with nataku. his head hurts from all the movement. infernals, clumping together, nataku is grabbed and swung around some more.

like a mecha suit, he’s surrounded by uncomfortable warmth, in the center of the freshly made infernalized armor. nataku can’t see what’s going on because a smoke is covering the ground, but he feels slightly safer being so high up, even if it’s sweaty.

something hits his head that looks like electricity, and all of a sudden, nataku can’t make sense of anything. he starts thinking of things the puppeteer has told him. rekka’s voice comes back, louder and more vibrant than ever before. he can’t keep himself from muttering.

“my mental imagery… my imagination… my imagination… is infected… the madman inside me is stoking me up…”

“my stars!” rekka says.

“my hopes are up, while my feelings are down… the madman is stoking me from the bottom upward… upward, upward… together with the thick smoke… heading towards my hopes… my hopes are up…”

and he thinks of experiments.

it’s hard to breathe, and he thinks he hears himself say something similar. he’s about to suffocate.

“i’ll be waiting for you!” rekka says.

but nataku doesn’t want to see him; doesn’t want to die.

his life is flashing before his eyes.

“i’m going to suffocate… on my infected imagination…”

nataku can see stars. and then his consciousness of his actions fades. he’s in his own mind, watching the things he can see like a movie. he can hear himself yelling, wishing for destruction, but it’s not his own conviction. he’s creating fire, so much fire. he wills them to become beams, and they do. all of the isolation, the anger, the hatred well up in him and overflow, like a sink left on too long.

he’s spilling all over the floor, he’s sure of it. he’s not even able to think anymore. he’s simply forced to watch as he unwillingly destroys everything he can see. rekka is screaming at him, and he can feel himself breathing too much, too quickly. a boy flies up to him, and he wants him to get away. he voices all of his feelings, to no one in particular. his brain is a mess by now.

“don’t expect anything more out of me!”

and then, like the time he screamed into the ground in another plane of existence, he’s floating, face to face with the boy that can fly.

“don’t expect anything more!”

it’s then that he sees his mother again; nataku belatedly realizes he’s watching his own memories. he’s pretty sure the other boy can see them too, and he doesn’t like that. it’s over in a flash, though. before they leave the world that looks like hell, the other boy whispers something. and even though it’s a whisper, nataku can hear it with perfect clarity.

“nataku-kun…”

“what was that? what did you do? what was that sensation?” nataku asks.

“nataku-kun, take it easy! you have to listen to me!”

“stop it! stop looking inside me!” nataku is angry. no one knows what he struggles with, his mother said he should keep it that way, too. to be perfect, everyone who he is involved with should be perfect. his memories slander his family. but this boy forced it out of him.

“stop it!”

“don’t let yourself get carried away by the flames’ power!” he says, “it’s all right, you’re a strong boy, so--” is this man stupid? he just chose to say that? after what he saw in nataku’s brain? he thinks it’s okay to fling more expectations onto him at a critical moment like this?

it’s the final nail in the coffin; those words.

“yeah, that’s right! that’s why i can do this! i know i can do this! i can do it!”

like a second sun, nataku can feel his energy condense.

“i can do it! i’ve got this! i’m going to do this!”

someone screams but nataku screams louder.

“i can do it! i can do this! i have the power! i can blow this whole city away!”

and finally,

“i can do anything!”

before nataku can even think of releasing the beam, it releases itself, and nataku thinks it’s all over. for him, for kurono, for everyone else that may or may not have been trying to help him. it’s all the power nataku has; it’s all he can do.

and it gets deflected.

the chance for that turn of events must’ve been one in a million, billion, trillion. some insane number that human minds can’t even begin to fathom accurately.

“oh no…”

he can see from his position so high in the sky, that kurono is moving closer to him.

kurono is not happy.

“i’ll have to request some extra compensation from the company,” kurono states, that dead look still on his visage.

“i can do it, kurono-san! i have to do it!”

kurono unwraps his arm, ready to fight with all he’s got. the kid nearly blew up the moon, for sol’s sake.

like it’s second nature, kurono forms a sword and slices through nataku’s infernalized armor like butter.

“ah, my arm!”

it slides to the ground and falls with a loud thump.

“don’t get any stronger,” kurono starts, “you’ve disappointed me, nataku,” and then he adds the finishing blow, “you’re hopeless.”

“please don’t say that!” nataku is on the brink of tears. kurono is brandishing his sword again, preparing to deliver another strike.

“i can do this!” nataku knows he’s talking nonsense at this point, but he doesn’t know what else to say.

“well enough to beat you! i can at least do that much!” but nataku knows he can’t. kurono will beat him, but he can’t not try. rekka told him so.

kurono glides his sword, and then nataku is down both legs. he slides to the ground, the only cushion being the warm but dead flesh surrounding him. he’s sees his mother again, saying words of encouragement, but nataku doesn’t want to hear it. he can’t help but respond positively, and he responds to his mother. in his mind, she can hear him, and so can rekka.

“yeah! i’ll do it!” she’s crying.

“it’s all right, mom! don’t worry! i can handle it! i can…” he’s cut off by another deadly chop from kurono.

rekka, rekka, rekka, if his mother’s words can’t help him, then rekka’s will. he can do it! but what exactly is the goal? he’s still mumbling, but it’s less a response, he’s just repeating what he’s hearing.

he tries to slam his hand down on kurono, but it’s useless, and then his armor is disintegrating.

kurono is stalking towards him.

“i have to do it! i have to do it… or mom will… i’m gonna do it!”

kurono grabs his neck with his carbonized arm. it feels like it’s burning. the boy that can fly yells at kurono to stop. he starts to try and pull away, grabbing kurono’s arm with his hands and pushing.

“let me go, kurono-san! this isn’t all i’ve got! i know i can do better!” nataku’s mind isn’t even in the present situation. he wants to protect his mom, “be stronger! i have to produce results, right? well, i’m going to! i’m going to!”

“no,” it falls on nataku like a pile of bricks.

“why not?! you’re expecting me to use my adolla burst thingie, right?! please, i know i can do it! i can do more!”

“you’ve done enough.”

“how come?!”

what kurono says next is something nataku will never forget.

“don’t get any stronger than this,” kurono sets him down with a gentleness nataku didn’t know he was capable of.

“why... are you telling me that?”

“i like to bully the weak. you’re still a child, right? so don’t go getting any stronger.”

“are you saying you can’t expect anything from me?”

“‘i want to do such and such,’ ‘i want to be such and such,’ ‘i want to become such and such,’ it’s out of those thoughts that little boys become stronger,” he says, “what’s the big rush? right now, you have to hold onto the weakness you have-- the kind that makes me want to bully you.”

he finishes.

“it is a very precious and fleeting thing.”

and he continues.

“so i want you to still stay weak.”

nataku can’t fathom what he just said, but it puts something inside him to rest. he wants to collapse.

“no one has ever told me anything like that before. my mom and dad had unreasonable expectations of me. always telling me, ‘you can do it, nataku,’ but when i couldn’t do something, they expressed terrible regrets. i was terrified of that.”

he thinks of rekka.

“the madman inside me spurs me on, ignoring how i feel.”

kurono cuts in.

“you are still a child.”

nataku is desperate for confirmation. he doesn’t remember when the tears start falling, but now they’re flowing freely.

“is it… okay for me to be weak?”

“yeah. weak enough for me to want to bully.”

nataku falls to the ground in the deepest bow he can muster.

he utters a watery ‘thank you very much.’

he’s comforted by the foot that places itself in between his shoulder blades.

maybe every person he will ever come across will ask something of him, but kurono’s would always be the easiest to give.

∘◦ ᘛ⁐̤ᕐᐶ ⋯ ᘛ⁐̤ᕐᐶ ⋯ ᘛ⁐̤ᕐᐶ ◦∘