𝑸𝑶𝑻𝑪

𝑰 𝒅𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆. 𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓. 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒅𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒆. 𝑰 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒚𝒐𝒖.

***

"Ma-tsuha...", her voice shuddered as it vanished into the gruesome air. Horrified wetness gently threatened her eyes when she saw the youthful boy, with colour drained from his face.

Shaky breaths deliberately made their way out of her nostrils, freezing into a more discernible mist as it receded into thin air.

"Asa... mi..." cold sweat drops that evaded his skin cooled off in an instant. No light permeated into the alley as they stood, staring at each other in proximity. Suddenly, Matsuha buried his nose in his palms. The oppressive stench of blood clogged his air pipe. While striving to inhale, his consciousnesses became ambiguous.

With an unforeseen swing of events, Asami couldn't figure out what to do. Seeing Matsuha, a side of her she had sealed a long time ago emerged out. Her expressions became impotent and menaced, as she let her guard down. She certainly discerned the magnitudes of her actions. No matter what the reasons, she had committed an evil. Facing Matsuha in a condition like this made her vulnerable.

Although, she found him irritating, he was the sole friend she ever had, her only incentive to move forward. If it had been someone else, she would not have had a second thought about killing him. But Matsuha was significant to her, at least until then. What would happen to her now? Would he ignore what happened altogether with her? Or would he act like he saw nothing and remain friends? Or would he expose her? The questions in her mind reproduced profoundly.

"Matsuha, I...," she shifted her eyes to the side, not being able to match his gaze when she knew he already saw her white eye. Suddenly, he started walking towards her, not thinking about the blood-soaked clothes or stained street. Surprised, Asami looked at him in disarray. Those stern expressions he had while facing Kiyoshi had once again captured his face, his brown and shallow eyes, the spots on his meaty cheeks.

Falling on his knees, he faced her as he gripped her shoulders with his palms. With widened eyes, she looked at him as he pulled her into his arms, her chin resting on his shoulders. His quick arms wrapped themselves around her. The cold feeling of the air wiped away in an instant.

"What are you...". Her eyelashes gently dropped, and she looked at him, instinctively but calmly, resting her own hands on his back.

"Asami, you don't have to go through this alone." Hearing his words, she pulled away and looked at him.

"What do you mean?" Her baffled voice did not stir up her serious expressions.

"I don't care whatever you are. I want to be with you forever. You don't have to go through this alone. I will be with you." He said, pulling his shirt down one of his shoulders. "Go ahead."

Seeing his bare shoulders, she felt an intense craving to bite him. However, if she did, there will be another half-POWAN besides her. She could not accept that, moreover, when it was him. She didn't want to kill him.

She pulled his shirt up and smiled gently.

"Thank you, Matsuha. But I don't want you to go through this." She lied through her teeth. "I am amazed you are not scared of me."

The usually quiet Asami spoke these many words. To Matsuha, that was a miracle. His eyes shone and his body felt an adrenalin rush.

"Then, I will help you."

"Huh?"

"I will help you get stronger. I know your aim is to kill all the POWANs. I have known it for a long time. To avenge your mother, right? I want the same Asami. So, let's do this together."

She was surprised at how Matsuha, being an idiot, knew it all. But that was his only gift after all, picking on people's intentions. She locked her sapphire orbs with his brown beads and nodded. Although, she was still not sure how much she could trust him. Once again, he pulled her into an embrace; it being the first time after the incident she became so open to him.

***

Kiyoshi was out of breath after scurrying for hours. The sun drowned under the shadows of stygian clouds through which a dazzling moon projected out. Finally, he found an alley, with the most efficacious possibility of her being there. With his inhumane instincts, he could track down a person's presence if he had a close relationship with one. Even with closed eyes, he could sense and evade attack, landing a blow himself in the process. His agility, intelligence, and extensive range thinking made him the fiercest officer in the Kyoto branch. That was where he trained with his mother for 18 years of his life. However, there was not much work for a P.E.F. officer in Kyoto. The only significant thing there, was the research facility branch, which was run by his mother. He was one of the successful experiments of the research, the reason for his abilities. He was a human, a complete one, but with powers that exceeded those of one.

Kiyoshi caught the whiff of the decaying smell in the sewers. Cocking an eyebrow, he vigilantly entered inside. His expressions and intentions were not like the last time. Back then too, he barely escaped death, but her stupidly naïve behaviour amused him. But it differed from what he was about to face. Her aura was more hostile and more powerful than before. It matched the aura of the last moments of the fight, when she lost control. However, it was ten, no, hundred times stronger than before.

His heart raced and sweat covered his body. His face showed no colour, as he was about to face another match with death. He gulped as he stepped slowly and carefully, analyzing the intimidating atmosphere. Her aura was slowly fading.

𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦. 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘺, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺.

He wheezed as he jumped out on the street with a metallic blade attached to his hands. It was a gear, a POWAN killing weapon. The scene in front of him made him drop on his knees, his mouth gaping wide as his skin twitched with horror. Sweat dropped on the blood-stained road where two blood-soaked pair of clothing weighed against the street. Little lumps of flesh were scattered all around the area.

Not even a little amount of voice was left in his throat. His jaw trembled as he saw the mess the place became. However, not a single soul was present there. Only her aura, her demeaning aura, remained. Every single inch of his body shared the same terror. He didn't know how long it was before she left, but her murderous intent was still so strong. What would it be like in her actual presence? The thought scared him. His body paralysed, as he could only inhale some shaky breaths, lying powerless on his knees.

***

Asami sat quietly in the backseat of Matsuha's car. The Sato family provided him one, along with a driver. Matsuha sat beside her, silently staring out of the window. Asami glanced at him. His solemn expressions were unfamiliar to her, but she knew what he was trying to do. He tried to copy Kiyoshi.

Asami closed her eyes and focused. She wanted to hear her mother's voice.

𝘔𝘢𝘮𝘢, 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘮𝘦?

No response.

𝘔𝘢𝘮𝘢, 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘦, 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘐 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮?

Another silent response made her doubt her decision. Suddenly, her body started feeling different, like something inside her was decaying but she felt powerful, like a dark and dense presence inside her was taking over. She felt the hatred inside her multiply, her mind growing more sadistic. In an instant, she was slowly taken over.

She again glanced at Matsuha and smirked.

𝘐 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘱𝘢𝘸𝘯.