They had been walking in the forest for some time now, while it was difficult to tell, the sun appeared to be at its highest point in the sky and at some point, the path had gradually become wider to the point of becoming a dirt road.

King who had been walking alongside Neko, had been silent ever since leaving the altar and had remained deep in thought upon entering the forest.

For in King’s mind, a single scene had been on his mind.

King was the last one to awake, and it had not been long since his waking when things had quickly progressed to the introductions. Therefore, there should not have been much that could have bothered him besides the same questions one everyone’s mind, and yet since leaving the altar he had been deep in thought on a recent event.

After entering the forest King had been replaying the scene that had occurred back at the altar. There Neko had been trying to deceive everyone into thinking he could not talk.

At that time King was truly confused, he was just as confused as everyone else. It was a simple thing and it should not have been bothering him to this extent. King did not know why Neko had decided to become a mime and pretend to be mute, but at he assumed Neko had his own reasons for doing so and instead chose to remain quiet.

During Neko’s mime act he had been thought desperately for a reason behind Neko’s silence to the extent that his mind had gone blank several times, and yet in the end he had been unable to find any reason behind Neko’s silence.

It was only when Kenji had walked over to Neko, and everyone turned silent, that he had come back to reality.

King had no intention of interfering, nor was he going to reveal that Neko could talk, neither did he plan on helping Neko when Kenji began confronting him.

This was because King felt that Neko had got himself into this mess and should therefore get himself out. Personally, he did not like the situation between Kenji and Neko, since he did not like aggressive people. However, his personal feelings was not enough for him to intervene.

So why did King intervene?

It was during Kenji’s questioning when King looked at Neko, and he noticed.

He was the only one to notice…

Neko’s expression had not yet changed, but in that transition a trigger had set off causing King to recall. It was something he felt was important. Something that should have never been forgotten. A past memory…

At that moment time crawled to a stop, the world around him blurred, his eyes fixated on the dark of Neko’s eyes, pulling him into the darkness and in that darkness —he remembered a cruel and dark memory…

♦ ♦ ♦

The world was grey.

There at a seaside where the beach was littered in all manner of unwanted things, he sprinted as fast as he possible could. From the garbage filled beach through the mazes of homes made from scrap metal and junk.

The residents of these homes hid inside like frightened mice, their frightened faces staring at him from the large, poorly cut squares that served as the windows of their homes. His destination was to the top of the cliff, and at this speed it would not take him long to reach there.

The wind blew heavily across the clifftop.

It was windy this high up and the long grass swayed in the wind as he breathed heavily, struggling to catch his breath. He could feel drops of sweat pouring down his cheek, his clothes sticky, clinging to him tightly.

The wind up was ice cold, his body began to cool quickly as he looked from the ground upwards to the edge of the cliff, but It was not the wind that chilled him but what he saw.

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There at the top of the cliff, spread out and fallen lay many people. Some with cut off limbs, others with deep cuts and gashes all over their body. However, none were alive. There they all lay as corpses, many of which he recognised and knew.

Childhood friends, close friends… family.

Yet here they now lay, cold and lifeless. Out of them a thick murky red flowing into the ground, the only colour in this grey world. He could hear his heart pounding.

Feel the heavy throbbing in his chest, his heart trembled, paining him.

Why had I been in such a hurry to get here?!

He could not remember.

All thought had left his mind before this gruesome scene and all he could feel was the throbbing pain echoing from his chest, and yet he forced himself to walk further.

To the top of the cliff.

The number of bodies increased, painful memories springing forth from the bodies of the those whom he had once known. He could no longer hold the tears back in his eyes and so countless fell as he walked.

There at the top of the cliff where the bodies were most. Across the sprawled-out bodies on the blood-soaked ground, at the edge of the cliff was a man staring at the distant sea.

The man’s long black hair swayed in the wind, a red shirt torn open at the front, black jeans with a silver chain dyed in red and blood all over his body.

The blood was not his own and he was the only one left alive…

The only one left standing…

Tightly gripped in the man’s right hand, was the decapitated head of an old man with silver hair stained with blood, a scar over one eye and a silver beard. Despite being old the man had a strong and muscular face.

The now former lord of the territory, their former lord…

As King watched in shock, he could not stop the shaking in his hands, as he brought his hands up. The same murky red substance dripped from his hands to the ground.

His clothes had not been made sticky with sweat but with blood. None of which was his own. How did it come to this!? He cried inside as he looked at the numerous corpses sprawled out in front of him.

King fell to his knees.

Exhausted and weary he looked up to the sky, clenched his fists as tightly as he could and let out a powerful cry with all his might, but in this grey world there was no sound. As he sat there on his knees, he could now very clearly hear his breathing becoming steady, the trembling in his hands had stopped.

He looked from the sky back to the edge of the cliff and there he saw the man looking at him. The man’s face was lifeless and cold and yet his gaze was penetrating.

Their eyes met and as he began to lose himself in the darkness of those eyes, the world began to distort and spin once more. He could not look away, his eyes locked in on the other.

Irises as black as the night sky with a faint crimson glow, from them spew an all-consuming darkness that spread out and began consuming the grey coloured world.

As he began to lose himself in the darkness, he could faintly see the man say a single word.

“King.”

♦ ♦ ♦

In that instant King had come back, his breathing had become irregular and he could hear his heart beating, loudly. There was a faint ringing sound in his ears and his head felt as though it had split open.

He did not know what had happened and was about to collect his thoughts, when he heard Kenji’s voice. Suddenly, becoming aware of the two in front of him.

Fear coursed through him —There was no doubt in his mind. The man from back then and the man from now, was clearly the same person.

Time began to resume back to its normalcy and King could not shake off the bad feeling crawling up his spine. Who is Neko? King did not know, but he could tell something bad was going to happen. Something, like back then and so as he calmed himself internally and intervened.

Back at the altar he did not have enough time to gather his thoughts and think about what had happened, and since then and upon entering the forest, he had been thinking non-stop about what he had saw.

King had been replaying over and over in his mind that one scene, recalling it and relating it back to his flashback, he had many questions about Neko but no matter how much he tried to recall, nothing came up. He could not remember.

However, one thing that was certain.

The man who stood at the edge of the cliff was without a doubt Neko.

There was too little information to go on with, but for one thing he knew Neko was dangerous. Neko was a cold-hearted killer, a murderer, everyone here was in danger and yet no one else knew.

Who knew what Neko would do? To protect everyone here King needed to be ready. He needed to be on guard. He needed to know what he was up against and so he had been trying to recall as much as he could. Anything that could help him against Neko.

He needed to be ready to make a move at any time.

But how? How can I save everyone from Neko? I can’t tell them anything since I don’t know even know what that flashback was? What is my connection to Neko?

That was what King had been thinking about, the best way to protect himself and everyone around him from Neko. However, there was one thing that bothered King as he thought deeply on countermeasures against Neko.

It was something that had begun to eat away on him on the inside.

Why was I there? Why was there blood on my hands? and why was I covered in blood?

As King began to think back on that memory once more, something grabbed his arm. However, before he even had time to scream out in surprise the grip tightened forcefully, and his gaze met with Neko’s.

As he looked at Neko, he noticed a serious glare in Neko’s eyes.