POV: Hoga Yasahiro

"I'm only polite to those who are polite to me."

RedHead gasped with a blank expression on his dumb face.

This guy has absolutely no idea about what his power is.

Transferring his blood to me, the accident and everything up to this point must have been all but a coincidence.

Talking to him would result in a waste of time.

I guess I'll just figure the rest by myself.

I started heading back to the company deep in thoughts.

Walking by people who were taking their breaks, walking their dogs, and those who are on a family picnic I have only felt void hearing their chuckles.

My movement slowed down till it eventually stopped.

I raised my head to see a clear bright noon sky.

Everyone has a goal or something to do on a day, as cloudless as this, yet I am only here, left alone, occupying space in this changing world without having any purpose.

I feel hollow.

I feel frustrated.

Why is something as simple as dying this hard?

I heard a kid cry behind me as I turned around to the source I saw a grandpa wiping a small child tears with a handkerchief.

The old man got on his knees and pressed the kid close to his chest and started patting his back saying,

"It's fine, Dai, grandpa is still here, isn't he?"

Ironically, the kid kept calling for his mom between his sobs, while the grandpa had a sad look on his old withered face.

Seeing that scene, I remembered when I was young, back when both of my parents were alive we went to a festival that was in town with my grandpa.

I eventually got lost from dad and kept roaming around.

The voices from others' thoughts, rushing inside my head, scared me.

I walked as far as possible from crowds.

Eventually, I ended up in a roam place that is far from all the noises.

It was a shrine which was on top of a mountain that looked old and abandoned.

I sat near it and enjoyed the silence of the night.

I don't remember the scenery around me at that time, but I remember feeling very satisfied being there.

"Yasahiro?"

Grandpa crept in on me and sat next to me.

He stared at me aimlessly, without really focusing on anything but enjoying the silent that risen around us.

He shifted his eyes that focused on me to look at the far horizon.

With a sad tone in his voice, he directed a single simple question at me,

"Is it hard?"

I moved my eyes toward him, to see an expression that was beyond grief, he seemed like a broken pile of guilt.

At that time, I don't know if it was my instinct or just the tiny bit I have left as an imperfect human, I lied to him,

"I'm fine."

His eyes moved to meet mine, and with a faint smile on his tired face, he told me,

"Thank you."

At that time I knew deep down that he didn't believe me but strangely, I felt like if I told him how hard, painful and scary it was, something inside him will break.

He fixed his posture into a more comfortable one and lifted his head to stare at the stars above us.

"Yasahiro, I won't seek perfection from you, I won't ask for the impossible of you, instead will you do this old man a favor?"

I quietly nodded my head.

Then my grandpa's face which always had that stupid smile on turned into a sober one.

"Never let anyone find out about your ability."

I still wonder to this day, why he asked this of me.

Like a thunderbolt had ignited inside me, it came to me.

The RedHead from before totally looks like an idiot that will blab about his ability.

Should I tell him not to?

But he said not to talk with him.

Irritating.

A sigh escaped me as I started heading toward Miscul.

---------

"then looks like, I have to kidnap you."

I said as I looked at the idiot hiding in the corner of the room.

Idiot: 'No matter how you look at him he doesn't look like someone who is good in fights, I can probably beat him in a one-on-one fight.'

The guy started glaring at me while examining me whether I'll be good at fighting.

Looking at his body and attitude before, I can tell he seems to be the type that quickly rushes into fights.

Was he delinquent or something?

Did he overlook the fact that I read minds?

He does seem like an idiot that will forget something after a couple of minutes.

Just in case, I'll remind him.

I looked back at his glare, tried to put a smile on my face to seem as friendly as possible and declared,

"You won't be able to land one punch on me."

As soon as these words went out of my mouth, I knew.

I have misspoken my intentions.

The Idiot: 'I knew he was just trying to make me mad!'

Did he just interrupt my warning as an invitation to fight?

He is a valid example of the reason why I hate dealing with idiots.

I tiled my body to the right, dodging the brutal coming punch.

Did he just aim for my face?

He quickly responded to my dodge and threw a blow at my stomach.

Is he targeting my ribs?

He fights like a wild punk yet he directed his blows at spots that will cause damage if they hit me.

He surely didn't fight just a fight or two.

I couldn't help but grin.

I caught his hand before it reached me, and twisted it around his body turning him around.

With a confused tone, he wondered,

"What the hell happened just now?"

It's too early to be confused now.

I wonder what he will do if I kick him?

I bet his reaction will be funny.

I raised my leg and kicked him on the floor.

RedHead: "Did he just kick my butt!?"

This fellow is surprisingly amusing.

I couldn't help but chuckle.

RedHead: "Did he just laugh at me!?"

I raised him up as he struggled, I carried him to the office.

---------

"Does anyone other than me knows about your immortality?"

I asked him.

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Not that I'll trust his answer anyway, but his thoughts will tell me the truth.

RedHead: "This psycho, I just discovered I'm immortal."

This guy's thoughts always manage to make me angry.

But he seemed to be thinking about it for a while, so I waited.

RedHead: "He might have known? No, that can't be."

His thoughts were way too messy for me to understand clearly.

He stared at the floor while biting his lower lip.

He said with faint voice,

"I once had an accident... I almost died ... at that time my friend..."

He hesitated while gripping his fist and forced a smile while looking at the floor.

"No, my brother was there... He might have known..."

He let go of his clenched fist and clutched both of his knees,

"But he died."

I could see how hurt he was, how painful it must have been for him to say that.

But my curiosity got the better of me,

"Died? Why?"

Like death needed a reason.

His eyes dulled as he gazed aimlessly,

"if I had to say a reason,"

Then a high pitched laughter rushed inside my brain.

Unlike other thoughts, this was painful.

My head started ringing.

He continued like he can't even hear the noise echoing in my head,

"It would be because of"

The laugh turned into a scream that resounded loudly.

"Me."

The scream died out.

My head was buzzing.

A thought rushed,

Unknown: 'WhY? wHy? KiLl! kIlL!'

The thoughts, I usually catch, are voiced by the owner of the thought.

This thought came from this guy but the voice was not his.

Why?

Is it irregularity?

But I clearly heard "kill" in there.

I have to make sure of it.

I'm afraid if I ask again, I'll have to hear that terrifying sound again.

I asked despite all my body telling me not to,

"What did you say?"

A confused look appeared on the guy face, then he asked with a worried voice,

"Nothing? is something wrong?"

I have to make him go out.

I don't want to get involved with him anymore.

"you can go now."

------------

After he went, I stared blankly at the spot he was sitting in.

I have missed an important detail I saw when he was drowning.

That white person who was standing on water.

Person? no, it was a monster, a demon.

He had a high pitched laugh and scream like the one I heard just now.

Moreover, if I remember correctly, he went inside that guy's body.

Just who the hell is that guy?

Is he even a human?

Someone started knocking on the door of the office.

Who is it?

I'm not expecting anyone.

My heart started racing as the door creaked open.

"Oh, there you are!"

My grandpa said as he caught a glimpse of me.

He started heading toward me,

"Is something wrong? you have a terrified look."

I glared at him for scaring the shit out of me.

I charged while frowning,

"What are you doing here?"

Grandpa flashed his carefree smile with excited puppy eyes he replied,

"Let's go eat lunch!"

------------

As we reached grandpa's house and parked in front of it.

"I still don't get why we don't go out to eat?"

I asked confused why we have to come all the way here.

Grandpa giggled saying,

"I cooked for the first time and I wanted you to try it."

I quickly turned around and got ready to get inside the car.

He yelled stopping me,

"W-Wait, j-just kidding! the maid cooked!"

Then we started heading into his house.

My grandpa lives in a mansion, he always dreamed of having a family big enough to live here.

Ironically, he is the only one living here now.

The first floor has two guest rooms and a living room with a kitchen and a dining room, and the second floor has his bedroom and rooms for his collections.

Grandpa is one of the people who likes to collect many stuff from fish to stuffed bears.

Yes, stuffed bears.

I told him to act his age many times.

But thanks to his childish personality I was capable of finding an excuse to move out.

We sat down at a table full of food.

Roasted chicken, chicken soup, steak, and potatoes.

I glared at this child wearing a grandpa mask,

"How are we going to eat all of this, geezer?"

Then his eyes looked downwards and with a regretful voice he said,

"I wanted to invite Izumi to celebrate his promotion but he took an early leave."

I sipped a bit of the soup,

"He truly made a smart move by leaving early."

"Wha-!"

Grandpa stood up and said,

"I forgot the stove on!"

and rushed toward the kitchen.

I freaking knew he was the one who cooked!

His phone started ringing on the table with an annoying ringtone.

I raised my voice,

"Grandpa! your phone!"

But no response from him.

Suddenly, my heart started racing and dropped like a bomb.

"Haa ... Haa ... What is this?"

Why am I so scared?

My hands started shaking.

Did this old fart put something in the soup?

I look at the phone to see an unsaved number on the phone.

I reached out to hold it.

As soon as I clicked the answer button a voice on the other side was shaking in fear,

"Chair...chairman!"

This familiar voice,

"Ikumi?"

No, was his name?

Was it Izumi?

Why does he sound like this?

I asked,

"Are you alright?"

The high pitched laugh returned and this time it was more eager.

Mixed in was Izumi's thoughts and unknown thoughts,

Izumi: 'He'll kill me, I'll die, I wasted my chance to report to police.'

Unknown: 'KILL HIM KILL HIM I'll FREAKING KILL HIM'

Izumi: 'Naoki will kill me, I'm scared, I'll die, I'll die'

I can't make out anything like this, but he is clearly in trouble.

I said with a voice wanting to sound as reassuring to the scared Izumi as possible,

"I got it! I'll be right there, just wait!"

Izumi: 'that's right, this guy can read minds.'

I quickly focused so that I would be able to catch a thought of where he lives.

Unknown: 'KILL HIM I'll KILL HIM'

No use, I can't hear where he lives with the noise of that unknown voice.

Is it that Naoki guy he mentioned?

"Izumi, is there anyone around you?"

Izumi: 'Someone around me?'

Unknown: 'This guy...'

I keep hearing two thoughts from him.

This has never happened before.

I never was able of hearing thoughts through a phone, let alone two different thoughts coming from the same person.

This is my only chance, I got to go deep into his head and know where he lives.

Izumi: ' I'm scared.

This psycho is acting weird again, I'm going to die if I rely on him.

Why Chairman didn't respond but this dude did?'

I lose my footing and my head start aching.

I have to go deeper... these are only the thoughts he is thinking right now.

Izumi: ' phone in my room.

Bars on the windows, can't get out.

Close to subway.

Door locked.

third street.

Juwanhood neighborhood.'

I got it.

Damn, this guy thinks only of useless stuff.

That unknown voice stopped after I asked Izumi if anyone was near him, did it figure out I can hear it?

It was saying something about killing.

I'll just warn him and start heading there,

"I'll be right there, don't be reckless."

I put the phone down and ran toward the second floor, and went inside grandpa's collection room.

I grabbed a gun lying in the corner of the room and quickly rushed outside.

Grandpa will be mad if he realizes I took this or knew about its existence.

It looks like a model gun, but in reality, it's a real one, I don't know what grandpa is trying to do hiding it in plain sight like this but it will be useful in this kind of situation.

----------

Thankfully, I was only a few blocks away.

I was able to reach in less than 20 minutes by car.

I started looking for houses with bars on windows, and only one had them.

I stood in front of it for a while thinking how I can enter.

I started sweating as I realized I hadn't thought this far.

Suddenly, I heard screams coming from inside.

The cries definitely belonged to Izumi.

Is he torturing him?

If my assumption is right, I can't allow Izumi to be murdered by that guy.

I quickly aimed the gun at the door and shot it.

The lock broke and I quickly pushed the door open and entered.

The screams died out, I hope I'm not late.

They were coming from the second floor, I quickly rushed through the stairs.

I faintly heard a tiny hoarse voice,

"D-Don't."

It was Izumi!

He's still alive!

I lost my footsteps because of books lying in the hallway.

I quickly took a grip and started heading to the closest room, and opened the door.

I then saw a scene that sent shivers down my spine.

Izumi was tied to a chair, and a guy swayed a hammer in the air and hit his neck and I heard a snap sound.

Crap.

He will die.

Seeing no choice in front of me, I quickly raised the gun toward Izumi.

"Who the hell are you? Aren't you the new president? why are you here?"

The guy said as he looked at me.

After he saw the gun in my hand, his voice trembled,

"What are you trying to do?"

The high pitched laugh returned stronger than ever and it sent shivers down my spine as it stated,

Unknown: 'Finally! Now my turn to kill you, shitty brat.'

I looked at the guy with the hammer in his hand and saw his hands trembling.

He soon was not able to stand on his feet and fell on the ground.

This guy is he scared of the voice?

No way, he can't hear it.

Then is it because Izumi is about to die?

Hammer Guy: 'I really became a monster now.'

Wasn't his goal killing Izumi from the start?

But he doesn't realize the danger he is in.

I don't even feel a bit happy trying to save this murderer.

I said as I put my finger on the trigger,

"You're not the monster, the real monster is Izumi... or rather what is inside him."

I quickly pressed the trigger.

And Izumi fell on the floor from the force of the bullet.

And silence raised in the room.

Hammer Guy: 'Shit! He really shot him!?'

The laugh stopped and something white started emerging from Izumi's corpse.

It's shape started resembling one of a huge human.

No, that appearance can't be called anything but a demon.

After he saw me he started giggling and with the same creepy voice I heard the thoughts in, he said,

"So wE mEeT aGaIn... yOu'Re tRyInG tO sAVe IZuMi huH?"

I grinned and responded,

"I never knew I was able of hearing demon's thoughts."

He moved swiftly and stood right in front of me.

So freaking fast, can I even fight this thing?

Demon: 'Left kick'

I barely backed away and dodged it.

So freaking fast, but I think I can keep dodging.

The usual creepy laugh came out again,

"InTeResTing, IntErEstInG, I'lL kILl yOu aNd RiP yOu tO pIeCeS. HoW dArE a mEre hUmAn DodGe mY atTaCk?"

Seems like I pissed him.

This is bad.

This is bad.

This is bad.

I don't think I can fight it.

Should I run?

He'll catch up.

Should I hide?

Where?

I guess I have no choice but to fight.

Demon: 'Right blow'

I quickly rolled on the floor avoiding it by a hair.

I ended up losing my only weapon dodging his attack, as my gun rolled on the floor.

I look at the hammer guy with his legs shaking as he stares at the demon in front of him.

I yell at him with loud voice,

"Run, you idiot! Don't worry, he'll just kill me."

The guy tried to stand up but his legs gave up.

"WhY Do YoU ThInK tHaT?"

The demon appeared and hit me.

I flew to the wall and got slammed.

My left leg hurts.

I guess it broke.

I won't be able to run elsewhere like this.

Let alone dodging any of his attacks.

Judging by this situation, dying is the only option.

I can't beat this demon like this.

I'm immortal now so if I died and revived then I might be able to pull it off.

But our power can't be seen by someone like this guy lying on the floor.

I doubt his motives for doing this to Izumi but I can't let a person who kills people for whatever reason, to know about our immortality.

He is sure to misuse the information.

I can't let this man see me or Izumi reviving.

I guess I am left with only one option.

I have to provoke the demon into killing me somewhere else.

I sat on the floor and glared at the demon and provoked him saying,

"Demons are not that special, huh? I can easily avoid you with my eyes closed."

He tilted his head sideways and looked me up and down.

Demon: 'Is hE tRyInG to ProVokE Me?'

Shit.

For something that was inside Izumi, he's pretty sharp.

he picked the gun I dropped when I rolled on the ground before and pointed it at me.

His lips moved upward and his eyes widen and with sharp voice he challenged me,

"AvOiD iT."

This bastard.

Forget my broken left leg, even if it wasn't broken I wouldn't be able to avoid the gun.

I should probably crawl out of this room, before he kill me in here.

He pulled the trigger and a bullet flew inside my right foot.

Crap, this guy totally knew I broke my left leg, he's trying to make sure I'm not capable of moving.

A powerful creepy laugh went through my ears and rang so loud inside my brain.

"I'll KiLl YoU, RiP yoU tiLl YoUr gUts sTarT DriPping FrOm YoUr WouNds"

I screamed as my head felt like it will explode.

Covered my ears with my hands to try to block the voice of his laughter.

Then both of my arms felt numb, and dropped down, I looked at them to see them bleeding.

They were shot?

I couldn't hear the gunshot from his laugh.

I moved my eyes toward him to see him grinning.

This bastard.

He really is enjoying my suffering.

I don't even need to read his thoughts to know.

He is a full-fledged murderer that enjoys every bit of killing.

I shifted my eyes to the corpse of Izumi who was near me.

Just what kind of monster was inside of you?

The demon got closer to me and aimed the gun at me.

He shot three bullets inside my stomach.

I started coughing blood.

My vision started fading out.

As I was about to fall on the floor, he got closer and held me up.

Started inspecting me the same way he did at the riverbank.

He then got his face so close to mine and whispered,

"FrUitLesS."

He punched my stomach and let me fall on the floor.

My conscious started fading away as the temperature escaped my body.

-End of Chapter 9-