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Hitori had hoped for a peaceful night of sleep. Everything had been so much recently. Tosaka refused to stop pestering him whenever he was researching, Kawara’s medical problems got worse, San continued to cause trouble, and not to mention, it was molting season and the bleach was really getting to his head now.
He had begun to start hallucinating again.
And here he thought they had gotten past that step.
But, it would have all been alright with a night’s rest to wash it all away…
He knew that wasn’t how this worked. That wasn’t what he agreed to.
The quail found himself in a field, a field of millet that stretched on for miles, still and lifeless without even a breeze. The moon hung over head, the world shrouded in pitch black… Not a single star was there. It was cold here, in the vast emptiness, Hitori the only soul around…
No. It wasn’t just him.
He knew how this worked.
Rising out of the millet, a set of eyes locked with his, staring with a hate that had never once dulled.
“Nageki.”
“How long is this going to take?” The figure spat the words with a venom. Its body was consumed in the darkness of this place, almost one with it, body twitching and squirming as it tried to keep its form. Its eyes lit up the night like spotlights meant to catch wayward prisoners trying to escape their cell.
But there would be no escape tonight.
There would never be an escape.
“Every day. Every day you pass him by… Why isn’t he dead, Hitori?” The being stopped inches from his face, tilting its head with pure innocence.
“I can’t yet, Nageki… You know this. He knows where you are… I need him for now.” Hitori couldn’t meet their eyes, but that was okay. The darkness lifted his chin before snapping something as it gripped his cheeks like a vice.
“You’re smart. You taught me everything. You’re smart enough to find me without him.” The grip grew tighter and tighter, Hitori feeling like his teeth would crack and pop out at any moment. “He made me suffer, Hitori. Why is he not dead? Why haven’t you killed him yet?”
“N-N-Nageki…” The quail struggled to speak under the pressure, “If… I-If I do that… I can’t stay at the school to f-find you… A-And the facility won’t o-open…”
…The man was tossed to the floor, gasping for a breath. The floor was cold now, ice cold metal already biting into his finger tips. The world had changed… It liked doing that. They were back in the facility, back in that room. The room.
“You remember what he did to me, right Hitori? Months of that. Months of painful medicines and so many corpses… You could kill him any day. He’s a weak man. A weak, evil man. You could grab his little neck and choke the life out of someone again… Or maybe poison him… Or stab him. Or shoot him. Or drown him. You’re good at killing people, Hitori. You killed me. You killed your friend. So, kill him, Hitori.” The figure now loomed over them, their voice seeming to bounce off the walls ad infinitum, getting louder and louder and louder.
“Kill him. Kill him. Kill him. Kill him. Kill him. Kill him. Kill him. Kill him. Kill him. Kill him. Kill him. Kill him. Kill him. Kill him. Kill him. Kill h-”
“I CAN’T!” Hitori’s scream finally shattered the noise, leaving only the dull whir of machines around him, the man was panting with wide eyes as he looked to the shadow…. And with only a look, his expression immediately shifted as he groveled there. “I… I mean… I can’t yet. When I find you, then I can kill him. I can kill him any way you want, Nageki! It’s what you deserve, right? A little gift from your big brother?”
‘...It’s always ‘not yet’ with you.” A foot collided with their chest, pressing in and forcing him to the ground, the icy cold floor beginning to bite into their back. “When will it be time? When are you going to do something? After everything you took to get this far… Why are you wasting it all?”
“I’m not wasting it, Nageki! It’s just taking time… The doctor hasn’t made a move yet an-”
“Stop waiting on him.” Another foot stepped up, Hitori’s ribs starting to strain from the shadow’s full weight. “He’ll never let you find me, Hitori. He wants us to stay apart. Pry me from his hands already… The longer you wait, the more you’re forgetting me. The more you’re abandoning me.”
“Nageki, I would never aband-”
A stomp and a crack, Hitori was left sucking in air as the shadow continued, “You’re getting too comfortable. Forgetting who you are. Getting too close with those students… Are you trying to replace me?” Another stomp, a groan of agony, “Trying to find some copy?” Another and another. “You won’t replace me. I’ll make you remember me any time you look at them. You won’t forget me, right? You wouldn’t forget me?”
“O-Of course…” Hitori whimpered out.
“...Remember Hitori. You killed him to find me, not to take his life as your own… You can’t escape our life together, our time isn’t up yet. You can’t board the train without me… Right?”
“I… Right. It was for you. I’m sorry, I forgot that for a moment…”
With the apology, the weight was gone… So was the chill. They were back home. Heartful House, sat across from each other.
“Don’t you forget everything that’s been given to get you this far. I died to get you here. He died to get you here. All of them died to get you here. Everyone suffered to get you here. You took so much from everyone you’ve ever met… You’d better do something right soon and find me. Find me and bring me home and tell me how sorry you are for everything… For not loving me enough. For not being there enough. For not realizing how much I gave you.”
“I’m sorry… I’m sorry…”
The floor began to grow wet, blood rising up, flowing out from the walls… It was already up to his ankles. It wouldn’t be long before they both drowned. Drowned in what could have been.
“I gave you everything I had and you still let me die. Let me suffer. Let me wither away. Forced me down into hell. After everything I did. After giving you meaning. After saving you… If I hadn’t been there, making you work so hard, you probably would have been home sooner, home soon enough to die with the rest… Say thank you. Thank you for saving me, Nageki. Say it.”
The blood was at his torso now.
“I…”
“Say it. Say thank you for everything you gave me, Nageki. Say it, you ungrateful worm.”
“Thank you Nageki… I’ll try to find you soon… And then we can be together like this all the time! It’ll all be perfect again!” Tears began to finally flow as the blood reached his shoulders, pain setting in.
“...Good. Find me, Hitori. Kill the doctor. Then… Then maybe, you’ll have started to atone for everything you did.” As the blood washed over his head, the man was dragged down beneath the blood into an endless abyss, finally starting to drown… A voice echoed in his head.
“The sun is coming, Hitori. Another day.”
Consciousness started to return… But it wasn’t escape. He’d been here enough times to know… To know it was merely an intermission.
“See you tonight, Hitori.”