"Am I even your son! I was beaten up by that Kimura fella!"
After finding out that his own father had absolutely no intention to help him teach Kazuki a lesson, Kubo Sabae questioned with anger.
"How is it that I can"t tell he attacked you?" Kubo Yuki recalled the time when those delinquents showed up to register at Taijin Karate Academy with their black eyes, broken noses and bruised cheeks. Thus, when he saw that his son appeared as good as new, he naturally didn"t believe him.
When it came to his son, he actually did understand him well. For teenagers in their rebellious times, among 10 sentences that they spout, only one would be true
"If mother were still around, she would definitely help me," Kubo Sabae hissed hatefully.
"Unfortunately, she"s dead," Kubo Yuki said faintly. "Do you need anything else? If there"s nothing else, then please leave, I still have matters to attend to."
Kubo Yuki"s calm tone was incredibly infuriating as it flowed into Kubo Sabae"s ears. He kicked his foot out at a chair to release his anger and growled, "It was your fault that she died!"
Hearing the chair crash into the ground, Kubo Yuki retained a calm expression. He looked over at Kubo Sabae"s face, which was basically just a replica of his. His son"s gaze was full of hatred. He did not speak, all he did was stare at his son in silence.
His wife"s death had always been the most heart-wrenching pain he had ever experienced.
That day, he drove while he was drunk and crashed the car. They managed to save his life, but Ouko…
For some time after the incident, when facing his son"s questioning, he would still try to explain himself. Although he drove while he was drunk, his mind was still conscious, and his speed was reasonable; it was entirely the responsibility of the other party"s speeding.
However, his son had never wanted to listen and had always resented him in his heart. Over time, he simply did not feel like explaining anything. And now, because of the Buddha sculpture before his eyes, there was more reason for him to not anymore. He was tired.
Faced with his father"s silence, Kubo Sabae clenched his fist tightly. Without saying anything else, he turned and left.
A few long moments later, Kubo Yuki propped himself up to his feet and arrived at the door. He gently pushed it close and proceeded to move toward the fallen chair to pick it up. Finally, he plopped back down into his seat and picked up the Buddha sculpture on his table. Flipping it over, so it faced away from him, he said respectfully, "Master Namo, you may begin now."
As soon as the words left his lips, a black light was emitted from the Buddha sculpture. At this moment, the smooth, s.h.i.+ny back of the lifelike Buddha sculpture began to twist and distort until a sly face emerged, its two fangs poking out from the surface of the body.
The black light dissipated to reveal a bat"s sly face. It swiftly climbed onto his neck and sank its fangs into his skin, slurping his fresh blood.
Following his loss of blood, his face distorted due to the sharp pain and was starting to lose its color. He felt his vision blur as dizziness closed in on him. He tried his best to ignore the pain and could barely force out the words, "Master Namo, when can I get to see Ouka!"
"Soon, soon!"
A young, delicate voice flowed into his mind. Kubo Yuki held a straight face, showing no sign of disappointment in his eyes.
Time flew in a fleeting moment.
On Sat.u.r.day, Kazuki arrived at the address Kubo Sabae had given him to investigate. Throughout the day, he walked around the entire area but unfortunately did not stumble across anything abnormal.
From whatever info he had, it seemed that the problem might have been with Kubo Sabae"s father. However, the reiki in his body had been sluggish these past few days, right in time for cultivation. On Monday, his reiki would be able to recover completely, and it still would not be too late to ask Kubo Sabae"s father.
On Sunday, Kazuki went to Ueno Gakuen"s University in Taito District. Sitting in a café while watching the university students gush in and out, he silently prayed that today would be fruitful.
It was not long before a teenager with shoulder-length hair entered the café and stopped in front of Kazuki, his expression laced with suspicion. "You are… KimurKun?"
"That"s me." Kazuki gestured for him to take a seat.
After Aoki Hidehiro had settled down and ordered a cup of coffee, he glanced at Kazuki from top to bottom, "According to your age, you"re probably still in high school, right?"
Kazuki responded with a polite smile. "Personally, I am very into supernaturalism, so lately I have been working on a novel on it. I"m planning to have the fire at Akichi High School as the blueprint. I also happen to know Mr. Nakagawa, the moderator of "Final Forum." He is also the reason I am here today."
Aoki Hidehiro nodded and said in admiration, "When I was in high school, it was really stressful at Akichi. Otherwise, maybe I would have written my own novel to be published."
Kazuki greeted his comment with a simple smile and nothing else. He was not here to chit chat and had small talk. He opened his mouth and said, "Whatever Mr. Nakagawa knows, I know too. I came for a reason, and that is to ask you a few questions."
"Shoot," Aoki Hidehiro smiled politely as a reply. "Mr. Nakagawa ordered that I spill everything I know. He even gave me a reward, so rest a.s.sured that I will do just that,"
Kazuki was shocked. He did not expect for Nakagawa Aokiji to pay his debts for him.
Deep in his thoughts, he suddenly said, "I heard that… you were the initiator of the game "The Non-Existent Person"?"
Upon hearing his question, Aoki Hidehiro"s expression immediately turned sour; it was unpleasant to look at. He stared timidly at Kazuki, and asked with difficulty, "Who told you this?"
He had not told anyone about this matter, not even Nakagawa Aokiji. It was not at all possible for anyone to know, plus all the students of Cla.s.s Four had long died in the fire of that year. His secret was his and only his to keep.
Even the teachers did not know of this, so how would Kazuki find out?
Kazuki remained silent, of course, he would not say that it was the deceased Ito Shunji who told him.
After what seemed like an eternity of tense silence, Aoki Hidehiro finally answered slowly, "That"s right, I initiated this game."
Kazuki nodded to himself. Seems like Ito Shunji was not bluffing.
"But… It"s not like I had a choice. At that time, Takas.h.i.+ma Izumi was the bully of the school, he said he wanted to play a game and ordered me to come up with one…" As Aoki Hidehiro spilled his secrets, it was evident that he felt so much more relieved. So many years had pa.s.sed since the horrific event, and the fire of Akichi High School was merely a topic for chit chat after a meal.
Following the fire, because of the fear of others finding out, he had not dared to speak too much. Others simply thought he was traumatized from the event and grew distant and quiet, so they did not believe that he was acting weird at all.
Now, five years had pa.s.sed. This matter felt so far away, and if it were not for Nakagawa Aokiji"s mention, perhaps in another few years" time he would have tucked the memory into the back of his mind while he waited for time to wash it away.
Aoki Hidehiro"s gaze began to fill with memories as he started to share his story voluntarily without Kazuki"s request. Perhaps, just perhaps, Nakagawa Aokiji had paid him a reasonable amount. He started, "When this game was first proposed, everyone in the cla.s.s knew that we wouldn"t be able to hide it from Ito Shunji for long, and it wouldn"t be too far in the future before he found out. No one but Takas.h.i.+ma Izumi took the game seriously, but everyone else just played along with him because they dared not go against him."
"Actually, I"ve always kept an eye on Ito Shunji, so I noticed when he saw through our little game. But he was acting strange. He just went along with the game…" At this point, Aoki Hidehiro exclaimed, "I just feared that Ito Shunji did not realize that habit was a terrifying thing. After the game had been going on for a month, everyone was already used to ignoring Ito Shunji. No one interacted with him or talked to him, they wouldn"t even look at him."
"It was as if Ito Shunji had really become a non-existent person."