by Ash Masters
‘Thank God we still have the news.’ Yamato commented.
‘At least for now.’ Junichi pointed out.
‘Yeah...’
The two along with Eiko and Izumi were stood in a square housing the large and imposing Shibuya Grand Hotel where Yamamoto Akira had been confirmed to be staying.
‘Shall we go?’ Eiko asked.
‘Let’s do this.’ Said Junichi. Yamato and Eiko nodded in agreement, moving forward. Izumi however latched onto Junichi’s arm.
‘No.’ She breathed.
‘Izumi, don’t worry, everything is going to be fine.’ Junichi placed a hand on top of Izumi’s head.
Stubbornly however, Izumi pulled her head away. ‘We should leave. Everything is going to go wrong. Trust me, Junichi.’
‘What are you talking about? We can stop Akira now – we have Yamato who has the power of every Reaper within him. He can end things just like One said he could. Have some faith, Izumi.’
‘Everything is going to be all right, Izumi.’ Eiko reassured her.
Izumi continued to shake her head, her hair flailing around. She looked worn out and fatigued with grey bags under her eyes. Her skin had long-since lost its lustre, now more grey and ugly consequently forcing more age onto her. Izumi was very aware that her mental stability wasn’t as it once was however, now she was afraid that her friends would mistake her logical objections as signs of madness. With shaking hands she tied her hair up behind her, making herself more presentable. ‘I understand why you won’t listen to my opinions. Ever since Akira started all of this, I’ve... changed. But, you have to understand what I’m saying!’
The people of Shibuya now mostly Keys, had taken to walking around as if nothing was happening around them, heading to their destinations with no unnecessary stops, not stopping to communicate and ignoring everything occurring around them including people like Junichi, Izumi, Yamato and Eiko who had yet to be turned. This meant that they were free to talk any way they wanted.
‘Look around us! Akira has possessed all of these people! He can see us and he’s not doing anything! He knows that we’ve lost! If he doesn’t turn us into one of these Deprived then he’ll surely kill us!’
‘Still,’ Eiko interrupted, ‘that doesn’t mean that we can’t at least try. Like Junichi said, you need to have more faith in us. Yamato has enough strength to stop an army so I’m positive that he can stop one man – and an old man at that.’ She stood before her best friend. ‘Look, Izumi, I know these last four years hasn’t been easy on you, it hasn’t been easy on all of us. We’ve all sacrificed something, we’ve all felt the physical pain and mental anguish. But, we’re so close to the end now. You can’t let what you’ve faced make you into...’
Izumi latched onto the end of her best friend’s sentence, suddenly very sane. ‘Into what?’
‘It... It doesn’t matter.’ Eiko said off-handedly, looking away.
‘Into what!?’
‘I said it doesn’t–’
‘INTO WHAT!?’
‘A coward!’ Eiko finally admitted. Embarrassed she began to play with the fringe of her black, boy-ish hair.
‘A coward?’
Eiko sighed, dropping her arms. ‘You’ve lost your drive, Izumi. The girl I knew is gone – the strong girl with the determined heart who wanted to succeed. Where did she go? You don’t even attempt to fight – you’ve already given up. The Reapers don’t exist anymore. You have to fight your own battles. There’s no room for fear and no room for cowardice. Look,’ She placed her hands on Izumi’s arms. ‘For the last few years I’ve watched you tear yourself apart. You look so scared and I don’t know what to do.’ Suddenly Eiko felt tearful. ‘I don’t know how to help you.’
‘You think I’m a coward!?’ Suddenly her heart beat very painfully. ‘Is that what you all think? Everyone?’ She looked around with rage clear on her tired face.
‘I think that you’re scared.’ Junichi gave Izumi an awkward smile. ‘It’s alright to be scared. Whatever happens I promised to myself that I’d protect you.’
‘I’M NOT SCARED!’ Izumi screeched, every blood vessel under her skin rising to the surface, black and more visible than they had ever been. She tore herself out of Eiko’s grasp. ‘I DON’T NEED PROTECTING!’
‘Calm down, Izumi!’ Eiko ordered.
‘Shut up! SHUT UP! I’m not scared! I’m not scared! Even if we stop Akira, things will never go back to how they were! I decided long ago that I don’t want to live in that world!’ She held her head as a fresh pain arose. ‘You’re the ones who are scared! You’re the ones who can’t see the truth that the world you’re fighting for is gone! We’re all corpses walking! We act like we’re alive but what life is this!? We’re already dead! WE’RE ALREADY DEAD!’
A backhand from Eiko dropped an unprepared Izumi onto the ground where she sat huffing. ‘I’m sorry, Izumi. I didn’t know how else to stop you. You just need to calm down. We’re going to be fine – you, me, Junichi and Yamato. No-one is going to die all right? Do you want to know what I believe about all of this? I believe that everything happens for a reason. We’ll get through this, just have more faith in your friends. Can’t you see how much you’re hurting us?’
Izumi’s vision blurred and a sickly feeling bubbled in her stomach. She turned away from Junichi, Yamato and Eiko, and her arms visibly trembled under her body as her eyes transformed into their purple, empowered form that only Junichi had seen. ‘It’s not about faith. It’s not about power. It’s about making sense of what’s in front of you. There is no hope for us. Any of us... I’m not scared. I’m not scared. I don’t feel anything because I’ve accepted fate. But, if there’s something you all should be scared about Eiko, it’s loneliness.’
‘What do you mean by that?’ Yamato asked, moving closer to the downed Izumi.
‘Loneliness. How can the world go back to being how it was? How can people trust one another knowing that they could turn on each other at any moment? There will be no peace after this, only hatred and hatred leads to loneliness just as everything does. Yes... You all think I’m mad, you call me a coward and call me scared. In the end, I shall be at peace while you all will be tortured by hopelessness.
‘We can struggle, we can fight, but in the end loneliness is all we have. You shall see, you shall all see. Loneliness is all that we have waiting for us.’ Izumi stood, removing her tied hair from their confines and letting it sweep over her face. ‘This is no doubt the same hotel that we were at when we were captured years ago. We were just too stupid to consider the idea that Akira remained here. So, shall we go then?’
Izumi lead the way forward, her body returning to normal while the three behind her became the ones to be filled with fear.