Ryuji sat in the confines of his living room that he resided in for more than a year staring at a wall. His eyes looked like they were staring at something farther away than the wall. The girls, on the other hand, were packing what they needed into bags they were going to carry to Priscillaca.

The girls stopped packing and made troubling faces as they looked over at the shell of a man. Dot waved her hand showing the signal that they should leave it to her. The other girls nodded and left with their bags as Ryuji continued to stare, ignorant of what was happening around him.

“Are you coming Ryuji?”

Ryuji absent-mindedly tapped crazily at the floor without looking away from the wall.

“Ryuji!?”

Ryuji tapped more fervently than before.

“Ryuji.” Dot sat down and grabbed onto his hand, stopping his tapping and forcing his eyes to focus on her. “Look I know you’re upset that we lost, but it is not that big of a deal ya big lug. Now get your ass up and get moving.” Dot attempted to pick him up by the arm and drag him to the exit, but Ryuji continued to not move.

“You sure you want me to go?” He went back to not looking at her.

“Why wouldn’t I? Everyone else wants you to go too its why they’re sitting outside waiting for me to get your ass down there!” In between words, she grunted with great effort trying to force the big oaf to get moving.

“There’s something I never told you or the others for that matter.” Dot stopped dragging and stared at him, giving Ryuji the okay to continue. “I’m cursed.” Dot didn’t react which Ryuji took as his cue to continue. “The reason we lost, the reason I failed my test, the reason that village burned down! It's all my fault! Bad things happen when I’m around! I thought it might not be that bad here since it was just a school but even then… I still managed to fuck it up! So why… why would you want a fuck up like me to come!”

Dot continued to be motionless in the silence that followed. This lasted for a few seconds and then as if she finally got done thinking about it she returned to dragging him. “What are you doing?”

They had gotten within a few feet of the door. “Dot?”

With an expression that an avid exerciser might wear when they get close to finishing the last set, Dot had made it to the door with Ryuji in tow. “Answer me!” Ryuji yanked free and stood up.

“Ima be honest here, I don’t care. And you know what? I bet the others don’t care either.” Dot spoke like she had bags under her eyes.

“You don’t know that.”

“Let's say for a second then that they do care and they do leave you. I’ll still be with you… you won’t be alone. It's eating you up that you lied to them right? Then you have to tell em. I mean I know that you don’t exactly have the most attractive face so you won’t be able to find two more beauties, but there are worse things in life. For example, staying behind in a room that doesn’t belong to you anymore and sulking about something that hasn’t even gone wrong yet.”

Ryuji stared at Dot's signature grin and felt the need to have her answer one thing for him. “Why won’t you leave me? What’s so special about me?”

Dot scowled and scratched the back of her head. Blood flow crept up on her face. “C-c’mon you don’t need me to say it do you?” Ryuji's stare reminded Dot of a dog she used to see on the road that begged for scraps and pets. “F-fine! It's because I… you’re really special to me… alright?” Ryuji's continued staring caused her face to become a deeper shade of red. “WHAT? A girl can’t think a guy is a special friend or somethin”

“No! it’s not that it’s just that I think of you the same way.” Now it was Ryujis turn to get stared at. “Well, l-let’s get going.”

“Hey?”

“Yeah?”

“Since I’m so special can you give me a piggyback ride?”

“Why do you always have to add in a joke? Can’t you read the mood?”

“Aw, I thought it was one of my most attractive features.” Dot struck a modeling pose in the middle of the hallway.

“Whatever.”

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

It had been a few weeks since Ryuji broke down in front of the girls and apologized. Needless to say, the two girls didn’t really care. They figured something was up given how often they ran into trouble on the way to the capital. It turns out that it was just as Dot predicted and that nobody really cared.

They sat at the side of a trodden dirt road, Dot felt bored and started whining in hopes of alleviating it. “Hey, are we there yet?”

Ryuji roughly responded, “I didn’t know you were a child Dot, but I guess now that I’m taking a good look at you ya definitely don’t have the uh goods that define a woman.” A devastating blow left Ryuji's right arm feeling a bit numb, but he felt like it counted as a war wound and could be worn with pride.

Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.

“Anyway, you know we are nowhere ne-OW!”

“Oh, I’m sorry Ryuji I didn’t see you there!” Jessy had a joyous face, but the underlying tones told a different story.

“UGH! I am so tired of walking on my feet! Can we get a horse or a car or I don’t know, something?” Dot continued her campaign of complaining.

“I don’t think commercial cars exist or any cars for that matter.” Ryuji had little knowledge of the other countries that littered this world but he did know that no such invention existed in Dengal. He also knew that railroads and trains existed but right now they were only used for shipping resources and soldiers. He was also aware of the fact that only about two trains ran in Dengal, period.

Sighing beforehand Queen put in her two cents. “If you mean Magic Transports or MTs then yes they exist. Although the only place where citizens can use them is North Kevic.”

“Oh yeah, I heard that place even has a city that runs entirely on electricity and they have guns that don’t use magic.”

“Woah! Guns that don’t use magic!? Wait now that I think about it should I be happy that people are using a substitute for gun magic? Well, I suppose not everyone can be an aspiring magician. Hmmm, I just can’t decide!”

They got up and started down the path once more while Jessy’s rant about guns continued.

“That’s it!” On the road, Dot interrupted Jessy with a scream as if she could take it no more.

“What is it?” With a sigh, Ryuji responded not because he wanted to but because he felt like no one else would.

“I’m tired of walking on my feet and a certain someone, not gonna name any names, doesn’t want to carry me. So I am going to walk on my hands!” Dots spiel turned to utter nonsense and Ryuji decided to dismiss it with a single wave. The girl seeing that Ryuji wasn’t going to let himself be guilt-tripped into carrying her decided that she would do what she announced.

Dot started to walk on her hands and after a while ventured up a path that split from the main one and ascended a hill that the road the group was on winded around.

“What the hell is she doing up there?” Jessy looked up critically at the class clown as they lost sight of her.

“I have no ide-” Ryuji stopped his own sentence short as a man approached them from the front. Danger signals shot off through his brain and looking at the other two he could see that they surely felt the same.

The man himself looked completely and totally normal which is what confused Ryuji even more. His outfit was black from his coat and pants to the hat he wore on his head. His hands were firmly in his pockets and his face never lifted as he continually stared down at the road while walking forward. The pace of his walk was fairly slow.

Ryuji signaled the other two to give him a wide berth and they nodded as the man approached. “Watch out below!!!” From the side of the hill, a clumsy Dot was being hurled down the hill by the amazing force of gravity. She was ahead of them on the road and Ryuji realized that she was on a course to ram into the mystery man.

“Dot look out dammit!” Ryuji's cries didn’t accomplish anything as Dot fell face-first into the side of the man. As soon as she made impact a sickening noise vibrated in the ear of Ryuji and his throat seized up.

On the ground to the right of the man was the half body of Dot. She lay in a pool of dark red. The half of her body that made contact with him no longer existed. He however did not have a trace of any disturbance on him moreover he had not even slowed down his pace.

“… Dot… y-you’re just playing around… right?” His chest felt heavier and heavier while his throat seemed to almost close. He kept his eyes trained on her waiting for the moment when she gets back up and says it was just a prank. But no matter what happened or how long he waited she remained motionless. “Stop playing around! THIS ISN’T FUNYY!!!” His voice broke as tears streamed down.

The killer approached unbothered by Ryuji's sobbing screams. Jessy and Queen stepped forward weapons and fists at the ready. “Stop.” Jessy’s voice had nothing but malice in it as she stared him down. Still, he did not look up.

“She said stop. Are you deaf!” Queen walked directly in front of him. Surprisingly he stopped and slowly looked up. His eyes were uncaring and just as regular as the rest of him he even had some scruffy facial hair that most traveling men tend to develop.

A pit formed in Ryuji's stomach and anxiety-filled his heart. “Get away from-” His ears rung and a wave of dust made him close his eyes and put his hands up. When he opened them he saw the man but no remnant of his friends. The ground on which they were just standing now had two splat patterns of dark red. The man’s hands slowly went back inside his pockets and he returned to his journey.

“W-where where are they!?” His eyes frantically wandered back and forth trying to determine what happened. A flying red object caught his eye. Above the man was a mist of red slowly floating down.

For a moment Ryuji stood motionless. ‘Ah, they’re gone.’ He fell onto the road while clutching his mouth and stomach. Vomit flowed into his hand as he attempted to purge the disgusting feeling that crept through his very soul. With no more strength to keep himself up, Ryuji fell face-first into the bile.

--thump, thump, thump, thump

Ryuji heard footsteps draw closer. He had fallen facing away from his friends and did not have the strength or will to turn around. Tears streamed down his face as he thought of what became of those he was just joyfully chatting with a few minutes before.

“Why did this happen? Why did he kill them? Why are they dead? Why did I just watch? Why won’t I move? Why won’t I fight back?”

--Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!

The footsteps drew ever closer to arriving at the groveling broken man on the ground.

Ryuji whispered a thought that came from the very depths of his soul. “…Why am I even alive?”

‘Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY?'

--THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!

The footsteps came closer and Ryuji's heart beat faster and faster with every step. His thoughts were only of the steps that neared him.

--THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!

They were footsteps that made him scared. They were footsteps that made him sad. They were footsteps that made him cry.

--THUMP!! THUMP!! THUMP!! THUMP!!

They were footsteps that made him angry. They were footsteps that killed his friends. They were footsteps that would kill him. They were footsteps that made him insane.

--THUMP!!! THUMP!!! THUMP!!! THUMP!!!

They were footsteps that made him happy. They were footsteps that made him laugh. They were footsteps that would give him salvation. They were footsteps that would let him see his friends. They were-

A foot interrupted Ryuji's stream of consciousness as it stomped through his head with zero resistance. His face remained intact and held the look of madness. Without slowing down the man pushed on with perfectly clean shoes and paid no mind to the slaughter he left in his wake.

Ryuji's soul left his body, and the world became black. In the abyss, Ryuji felt formless, but even though he no longer possessed a body to hear with the sounds of footsteps drawing closer did not fade.

--THUMP!!! THUMP!!! THUMP!!! THUMP!!!

With no mouth, Ryuji screamed into the void.