{Observation 2; What can’t be undone}

When faced with a loved one’s death, what do you do?

Do you scream at the top of your lungs and flail around wildly, injuring yourself in the process just for the sake of releasing the torrent of painful feeling in your chest?

Do you deny it with all of your heart and shake the dead person’s body, asking them to wake up-pleading, begging, crying for them to wake up- and grovel on the ground when you realize the truth of the matter?

Do you look for the nearest window and jump?

Do you grab the nearest knife and cut your wrist?

Do you make a noose and hang yourself?

Laurence thought of all of these options in a single, painful moment, but the fact that he was considering suicide meant that he couldn’t full heartedly deny that Yuna was dead, eliminating an option.

He hadn’t screamed yet either, so that option was off the table as well.

Naturally that left suicide… correct?

But Laurence didn’t make a move to end his life; he just stood there, staring at Yuna’s lifeless body with emotionless eyes.

Yuna was dead.

She wasn’t coming back.

Who did this? Laurence’s first thought was.

His grief perhaps shocked him into being unnaturally calm when he faced Yuna’s death.

But that isn’t to say that his question was unwarranted.

Someone had taken the time to go to this room and bust down the door to kill Yuna; that was it.

The valuables that Laurence and Yuna possessed were still there, so the only goal the attackers had was to kill Yuna; this much was certain.

With that conclusion, Laurence’s reaction to this situation made much more sense.

When his short moment of grief and shock faded, it turned into one single thought; revenge.

Hatred coursed through his veins as he turned his back on the corpse; Yuna wasn’t there anymore so he had no reason to stay.

He looked around the living area and kitchen to notice the signs of a struggle; the couch had a huge tear in it that wasn’t there before, as though the attacker swung and missed with the axe he used to break down the door.

There was also blood leading to the room where Yuna ran into; Laurence hadn’t seen it the first time, since he wasn’t paying attention to the color red.

All he was looking for was the beautiful white skin, snowy blue hair, and vivid blue eyes of Yuna; those were the only colors that mattered.

Now that he looked around clearly, it was easy to see that it had been a while since the altercation took place; the blood he had previously spotted was dry on the floor.

Whoever did this waited until I left Yuna alone, the bastard… But how did they know where we lived? Further more, they had to have been watching over us to make sure the time was right to strike, not to mention the fact that the only reason they would kill without profit was for-

-Revenge. The word rang clear in Laurence’s mind, since he himself was going to take revenge as well.

So someone wanted revenge on Yuna for something? They weren’t after me, since they would’ve attacked me when I went out to Bug’s… location…

Laurence’s eyes turned wide as he pulled out the piece of paper Bug had given him; it was a long distance away from his home, a guaranteed way of making sure Laurence was out of the way for a while.

“That slimy son of a bitch!”

There was the fact Bug just happened to be strolling along his street at the time Laurence went looking for him, as well as the fact that he seemed all too eager to give him a deal worth far more than what he originally wanted.

But there was also the fact that the location was quite a ways away from Laurence’s home.

Why give Laurence a location like that, which was far out of Bug’s usual territory?

With another curse spat out of his mouth, Laurence grabbed his bat off the floor and stormed out of the building to look for the treacherous networker who played a hand in Yuna’s death.

* * * * * *

Of course, Bug wasn’t going to make it easy for Laurence to find him.

If you did someone wrong, you didn’t just stay out in the open for said person to find you; you go into hiding.

Laurence knew this as well, but he also knew that Bug wasn’t a hunter; if you caught him, then he was as good as dead.

Laurence left his house without any valuables or even his bag, and while he pushed his way through some of the streets, a couple people were going to yell at him before staring into his expression.

They knew that when someone had a look like that on their face, it would be better to look the other way.

It was the face of a man who will stop at nothing, even his own life, to accomplish his goal.

“Damn, man… wonder what happened to him?”

“Someone’s not going to live for much longer…”

Coupled with the fact he held a weapon in plain sight, the passersby knew he was on a mission to kill as some talked amongst themselves along their own way.

Laurence knew he was making a scene, but that was exactly what he wanted; the more attention he brought to himself, the more likely it was that someone would start to panic.

Not only that, but if a networker caught wind of his demeanor, then they would come rushing to him as fast as possible (Bug excluded).

This was because the people that payed the highest were always the ones with a single minded determination to accomplish something.

* * * * * *

Laurence wandered all the way to the crossing streets; a set of streets that intersected at the middle of the city.

It was a long trek and the rainclouds that were hovering in the distance started letting loose some of the water it contained, finally overhead.

It took him even longer than the time to reach the location that Bug had given him; maybe three hours or so, and the light behind the clouds was starting to become really dim.

That was when Laurence’s efforts were rewarded.

“Yoo-hoo, Mr. desperate!”

A energetic voice came from behind him, prompting Laurence to turn around.

Wearing torn up jeans and a shredded shirt like a punk rocker, the networker known as Birdy ran up in front of Laurence.

With her long green hair starting to get wet from the rain, her sudden screeching halt whipped it forward, splashing water into Laurence’s face.

Unapologetic, Birdy gave a mischievous grin.

“So, I hear someone’s looking for a fight with an insect?”

“...How did you know I was looking for Bug specifically?”

“Everyone’s been paying attention to Bugsy for a while now, don’t you know? Yamada came out from his hideout to talk to him specifically!”

“Yamada…”

Laurence frowned at the mention of this new, familiar name.

Yamada was one of the producers that people actually knew by name; the main reason being that he was able to go out onto the streets of the city without having to care about being attacked.

The answer for why he could feel safe was simple; he had people under his thumb.

He bought people off with his vast amount of resources to protect him and even had some networkers who personally worked for him in the southern area of the city.

It wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to call him the “richest” man in the entire city.

So the question then was why he would go out of his way to the north-western part of the city where Bug was?

Laurence already had a suspicion.

“Yamada had Bug, who knew the area better, stalk me and Yuna?”

“That’s what it looks like.”

“Do you have any idea why he would do something like that?”

Birdy held her hand out, as if to say “stop”.

“We know how this goes; you want information and I give it to you for something in return. But let me make one thing perfectly clear; I’m not saying anything about Yamada.”

“Not even if I offer everything in my possession?”

“Are you joking? Half the cities networkers sold the info of your home the moment you left it earlier this morning!”

Laurence’s fists tightened at this new information and he kicked a nearby brick wall.

“Dammit all!”

Birdy flinched at the outburst but stayed her ground, more or less prepared for the reaction.

I’m an idiot! Of course they would give the information to my home if it’s safe to scavenge! Laurence cursed at himself.

Laurence then turned his gaze onto Birdy and spoke very angrily.

“If you knew I no longer had anything, then why the hell are you talking to me right now!? What’s in it for you, huh!?”

“Because Bugsy is a different case; I know where he lives, but I can’t get anywhere close with the guards Yamada stuck on him. The deal is this; you were planning on squashing him anyways, right? So you just go in there and either you kill them or they kill you. If you die, that’s no problem for me, but if by some chance you win, then I get what Bugsy has hoarded up in his place.”

“...This is an extremely one-sided deal-”

“But it’s probably the best one you’ll get, now that you have nothing.”

Laurence took a deep breath in as the rain started to get heavier, and Birdy sidestepped to the nearby building that happened to have a small ledge hanging up on the roof, providing some shelter.

Laurence shut his eyes and grabbed his temples, finally allowing the facts to sink in as the crushing despair of today’s events weighed heavily on his mind.

He had lost everything; his home, his valuables, and more importantly, Yuna.

He swallowed his hesitation, finally accepting that he had nothing left to lose.

“...Alright Birdy, you have a deal.”

Birdy gave a knowing grin, completely uncaring of Laurence’s own feeling, and was about to say something before he stated something else.

“But, I need you to agree to do something before I go in there.”

* * * * * *

Bug’s home was a basement, accessible from the outside by going around the back and walking down a small staircase.

The guards themselves were positioned with one in front of the door and another at the top of the staircase.

They wore raincoats for the weather and had a frustrated scowl on each of their faces, clearly not content with their current job of guarding Bug.

“Hey.”

“Yeah?”

“Why did we agree to this again?”

“Extra chocolate on the next payday.”

The guard on top of the staircase sighed.

Then, all of a sudden, a voice could be heard from above.

“Must be some damn good chocolate if you’re risking your lives for it.”

The guard snapped his head up just in time to see Laurence jump out from the window above in the building next to him and knock him down the stairs into his comrade.

“GAH!”

“GUFH!?”

The guard on the bottom pushed his toppled over ally to the side, but he was too late to defend against Laurence’s first swing of his bat, as he leapt from the top of the stairs and aimed directly for the head without concern for his own well-being.

“YAH!”

“FU-!”

*Crunch*! The baseball bat swung underhanded in mid-air and made a satisfying sound as Laurence smashed the guard’s head against the concrete behind.

Of course, since Laurence had leapt at full force, he needed to lessen the damage to his body by using the guard as a cushion.

The back of his right shoulder landed awkwardly on the body since he rotated midair for the swing and his upper right back smashed into the brick below, but with the pulped, bloody face of the unmoving bodyguard greeting him, he felt a little better.

One down…

It was a very narrow space in front of the door, so naturally Laurence’s legs were now on the bodyguard he had knocked down the stairs.

The bodyguard stumbled to regain his sense of equilibrium and Laurence couldn’t stand up with the pressure attempting to lift his legs up higher into the air, albeit inadvertently.

“Tch!”

Laurence tried swinging his baseball bat, but due to the earlier hit to his shoulder, he swung with less power as the numb pain ran up to his hand.

The bodyguard, who was less than happy to be hit with a bat, finally got up despite Laurence’s attempts not to, and mounted him.

Shit!

Laurence dropped the baseball bat and reached his thumbs out to gouge the bodyguard’s eyes, but his wrists were quickly grabbed and slammed onto the ground.

Cursing, Laurence spat at the bodyguard’s face, who only seemed to get angrier, funnily enough.

The guard smashed his hard head into Laurence’s face and his ears began to ring.

He smashed it again and Laurence’s vision started to fade.

He smashed it again… but it was against a brick ground this time, as the guard kept slamming his head towards the right of Laurence’s head.

Luckily for Laurence, the guard was still dizzy from the trip down the stairs, so it made it possible for him to avoid the headbutt entirely since it was never centered to begin with by tilting his neck to the left.

Dazed from hitting solid ground instead of a head, the guard’s grip loosened on Laurence’s wrists.

Not wasting the chance, Laurence broke free from the grip and grabbed the baseball bat, attempting to get on his feet in the next moment before the guard recovered.

The guard snapped out of it, however, and grabbed Laurence by the legs.

This was a fatal mistake on his part.

Common sense would’ve been to grab the baseball bat away from Laurence rather than try to bind his legs together, because now the guard was underneath a standing Laurence about to swing down on his vulnerable position.

Whether it was because he still wasn’t entirely thinking straight due to the damage to his head, or if it was a simple slip up, Laurence would never know.

He brought down his baseball bat with all of his might.

Then, the bodyguard stared up with pleading eyes.

‘Save me, Laurence…’

Her voice rang in the back of his mind, as though he heard it before her death.

Dammit...

He lifted and then he swung down again-

Dammit!

-and again-

DIE!

-and again-

DIE, DIE ,DIE, DIE, DIE, YUNA, DIE, YUNA, YUNAAAAAAAAAAA!

-and again and again, and again, and again and-

“Stop it!”

Laurence stopped mid-swing as he slowly absorbed the image beneath him; still recognizably human, but some parts of him were squashed as though he had been run over.

While how I described it was appropriate, it did not do justice to how grotesque the scene truly was.

Laurence looked up at Birdy, who stepped back in reaction, her subconscious action a sign of her fear.

“I… Their already dead, I don’t want to be here any longer than we have to.”

Birdy’s voice shook, betraying her excuse, but Laurence paid no heed to his business partner’s growing wariness of him.

“It isn’t enough…”

“...Eh?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

Laurence clenched his shirt and spat on the corpse of the guard he just murdered, his eyes cold like the rain.

I feel a crushing despair inside of me, building up, bursting out, but even after taking my anger out on them… it hasn’t faded. Why? Is it because they had nothing to do with her death? ...Yes, that has to be it… this anger should be taken out on those responsible.

Laurence breathed in shakily, a nervous laugh exiting his throat as he tested the door to Bug’s home, unsurprisingly locked.

“Hey Birdy, do you know how to open this?”

“...”

“Birdy!”

“H-huh!? O-oh, right…”

Birdy hesitantly walked down the stair and Laurence sneered at her.

“I thought you didn’t want to be here more than you had to be?”

Birdy’s eyes didn’t make eye contact with Laurence as she pulled out a key from her back pocket.

“Where did you get that?”

“...”

“Oy.”

“...I have a contact who’s good with making keys.”

“Hmm… I should keep that in mind for when I get a new place to live.”

Birdy nodded her head, but kept looking away from Laurence, who noticed this.

“Wait, are you telling me you’re actually frightened?”

“...”

“You live in the city and you can be shaken up by someone being a little violent? What happened to you? You already knew I was coming here to kill, and I did.”

“But that was way too far-”

“Why do you even care? You’re the one that wanted me to help you get Bug’s valuables, so don’t pretend you weren’t expecting this.”

“...Whatever. Just don’t leave a mess inside; I’d rather not scavenge through Bug guts.”

A soft ‘click’ could be heard as Birdy turned the key, and she backed off and gestured for Laurence to go first.

“He’s all yours. Call me in when you’re done.”

Laurence didn’t even give Birdy any sign that he had listened, and opened the door.

Stepping inside, he found that the floor was tiled and the walls lined with a surprisingly unscratched paint; a rather clean place, considering how dirty the owner was.

Walking forward with a fast pace, a kitchen came into view on the left and Laurence could hear a soft hum from the fridge, indicating it was working.

Not only that, but he noticed that the area was rather warm, indicating that something was heating up the place.

Are all networkers this comfortable, or did Yamada reward him in advance? Laurence pondered briefly before moving deeper into Bug’s lair.

There was a well furnished room on the right as he proceeded, but no Bug to be found.

There was an immaculate bathroom not too far from there, but it was the same as the other room’s; nobody was inside.

Just as he made his way to the end of the hallway and opened the door that was there, he managed to see a shadow turn the corner up a staircase.

! Of course he heard the noise outside, idiot! “Bug!”

Laurence yelled that as he took off, running up the staircase that was in an abysmal state, unlike Bug’s home.

“Stay the hell away from me!”

Bug’s voice came from above Laurence, sounding shaken as if death himself were coming for him.

In this case, that would be accurate, since Laurence wasn’t going to simply let him live.

Laurence went up two stairs at a time, moving with a fury and reaching the top to see Bug run down the hall in the opposite direction.

Chasing after him, Laurence wondered why Bug didn’t leave through the front door; unless there was an emergency staircase around the building, which Birdy told Laurence there wasn’t, then Bug was heading towards a dead end.

Bug turned and leapt into a room.

...No, literally, he leapt into it.

Laurence didn’t stop to think about why Bug would do something like that, and was prepared to leap into the room once he turned into it, but when he saw what was inside, he almost fell flat on his face.

There was a long, narrow gap in the middle of the floor and a bunch of literal spikes covering the floor below.

A rug was lazily spread across the spikes below, and Laurence looked down at the networker, who was sweating bullets and hanging from the ledge of the floor.

“...So.”

“Um… h-how’s it goin’, old buddy, old pal?”

“...As much as I want to smash your brains all over the wall, I’d rather hear the explanation for this.”

“W-well, you see, I knew you were coming and I figured you’d blindly chase after me wherever I went.”

“Uh-huh.”

“S-so I set up a bunch of traps here… only to misjudge the distance of the hole in the floor?”

“...So what you’re saying is that this ridiculously cliché trap was covered by that large rug down there, but you stepped into the space that didn’t have any floor underneath, and now you’re hanging on for dear life thanks to a trap you set yourself?”

“Uh… yeah, that would be it.”

“...Heh…. hahahaha!”

“Ha… hahaha…”

Bug laughed nervously along with Laurence, whose face was distorted between amusement and frustrated anger.

“This really is too funny… Yuna died thanks to your help? Such a brain-dead insect like you!? Why!? Why is someone so infuriatingly stupid like you still alive while she’s dead!?”

Laurence yelled with such ferocity that Bug almost lost his grip from the sheer force of his shout.

“W-wait! Please! W-we can talk this over!”

“...Tell me where Yamada is, then I’ll leave you.”

“Wh- No, pull me up fir-”

“If you don’t tell me, I’ll jump over there and stomp on your fingers until you fall. So? What’ll it be? Will you take the one in a million chance that you have enough strength to pull yourself up, or would you rather die here and now?”

“You’re bluffing! I had a running start and even I couldn’t make the distance!”

Laurence gave a long sigh and moved to the wall, giving himself some space before he made the jump.

“Wa-wait! If you don’t make it, you’ll knock me into the spikes as well!”

“Hmm, then you better hope I’m not bluffing.”

Laurence dropped his bat and was just about to run, before Bug called out again.

“Okay, okay! Stop, you psycho! He’s in the Shade; third row, fifth building!”

“What floor?”

“I don’t freaking know, just leave me alone already!”

Laurence believed Bug, but now he was considering whether or not to let him live; certainly it would’ve been unlikely that such a weak person could pull themselves up, but there was still a chance he could live.

That being said, he also knew that he’d have to make a jump that Bug wasn’t able to do and physically stomp his fingers off if he truly wanted to make sure he died..

There was one thing he would vouch for the rotten networker; he was quite agile and probably could jump farther than Laurence ever could.

If I risked my life just to put an end to his pathetic existence and fell, then I wouldn’t get my hands on the one who actually committed the act of killing Yuna.

With that thought, Laurence sighed and picked up his baseball bat before walking off.

“H-hey, I’ll give you a discount on all information from now on if you help me! Laurence!? C'mon man, don’t leave me like this-”

Bug’s voice began to fade in the distance as Laurence walked away.

* * * * * *

The Shade was a section in the south filled with rows of tall building that reached up high and were packed tightly, creating a series of narrow alleyways that were very rarely out of the shade; thus the name.

When you were talking about the buildings here, you were facing it from the direction of the center of the city and numbering the rows starting to the left and going to the right; row number one was, effectively, the leftmost row when facing this section.

Despite know this, Laurence walked in-between the first and second row’s alleys.

He didn’t want to alert anyone of his presence yet, since Yamada had people protecting him, more than likely.

He stopped at the fifth building of the second row, and moved cautiously around the building to look at the fifth building in the third row.

There was hardly any light left in the sky, and now that he was in the Shade, Laurence was barely able to make out the outline of the building amidst the pouring rain.

“Ah...ah-cho!”

Quickly retreating into the alley, worried his sneeze may have drawn attention, Laurence listened as best he could to any approaching footsteps, but all he heard was the deafening sound of rain across the roofs and ground.

Laurence’s body shivered once he thought he was safe, and he realized just how cold it was out there, not to mention he was drenched so badly that his entire body was wet despite being clothed.

“D-d-dammit…*Sniffle*”

Fighting through his aching bones, freezed from the frigid rain, Laurence walked over the the building and saw that there was no-one guarding the front door.

Did they all go inside?

Still wary, but not willing to retreat, Laurence slowly turned the knob of the door and pushed it open slowly without much resistance.

It’s unlocked…? Did Bug give me fake info!?

Laurence gave a slight ‘hmph!’ under his breath, but proceeded onwards; since he was here, he decided he might as well check it out.

That, and at least it was protecting him somewhat from the cold outside.

Taking a few steps inside, a small torrent of water dropped onto the floor, making his presence known rather loudly.

There goes any element of surprise…

Holding the baseball bat a little tighter, Laurence adopted a crouching stance and readied his weapon as he proceeded with the currently restrictive clothes.

If he took the chance to remove the clothes and someone attacked him in the middle of it, he thought it would be even more disadvantageous rather than wearing them as they were.

Slowly he crept up the hall, no light in the building, making it difficult to move around.

This wasn’t the first time Laurence had fought in the dark, however.

He had faith that his hearing was better than most, being able to make out the faintest breath from anyone hiding.

It had gotten him out of various ambushes at night, when he foolishly stayed out longer than he had to; not finding anybody to hunt made him stubbornly wait for hours despite the fading light during said events.

Laurence was still lucky to be alive, looking back, but that didn’t matter right now.

All that mattered was whether he would be able to survive the night now.

As his footsteps squished from the moisture his shoes absorbed, he felt out the railing of a staircase and carefully walked upwards.

His breathing was ragged and hoarse and his body felt weak from what he was putting it through, not to mention the ache in his shoulder never left him from when he killed the guard’s back at Bug’s home.

Clearly, his opponent, if he was here, had the advantage; he could hear where Laurence was at all times and he was familiar with the building.

Still, Laurence couldn’t retreat.

He never let down his guard either; considering that the info was false would make him relax, and he didn't want that in case it was correct.

That didn’t mean he thought it wasn’t strange; there was absolutely no sign of anyone as well off as Yamada staying here.

He walked a painfully long time, searching up and down the next hallway before giving up and continuing up the stairs to the third floor, with the same luck.

“Huff, huff, wheeze”

Laurence’s vision was starting to fade and his throat was burning as he trekked up the stairs on more time to the fourth floor and finally found a sign that someone was there; a faint light in a room to his left.

The fourth floor.

The room to his left.

A place he was all too familiar with had the same directions.

“Are you… mocking me?”

Laurence tried to yell it out, but his voice was too weak and his lungs seemed to lack the air it needed.

Wobbling unsteadily towards the room, he saw a candle on the table, placed in the same way his previous home had, and saw the silhouette of a man sitting on the couch.

“Yamada…!”

Yamada turned to face Laurence, his rough face showing no signs of reaction to Laurence’s presence; his brown eyes easy to see without the shades he normally wore, placed neatly on the cushion beside him.

“Laurence… that is your name, right?”

Yamada’s voice was calm and unafraid, but also without hostility or malicious intent.

Laurence took no heed to this and approached him with his bat at the ready.

“You’ll pay…”

“...What is it that you’re feeling?”

“You killed her, killed Yuna, killed my joy, my light, my love, my dream-”

Laurence spoke endlessly despite his deteriorating body strength, as though he were broken and Yamada remained unfazed.

“No, that was a stupid question. I already know the answer.”

“-what did she deserve to be killed by the likes of you, why did she have to die because of you, you’re nobody, you can’t even measure up to her-”

“I thought those exact same things at one point, but they all lead to one irreversible fact.”

Laurence was in front of Yamada now, and about to take a swing.

“...Give her back… GIVE ME BACK YUNA!”

“I CAN’T!”

Laurence stopped mid swing as the older man showed anger for the first time and Laurence’s body trembled.

“What… what the hell is this?”

“...Don’t you get it yet? What you’re feeling… what we’re feeling isn’t anger for those who killed them; it’s anger at the fact they’ll never come back, no matter what we do.”

Laurence’s bat dropped from his hands and he stared wide-eyed at the man he stormed through the city for, wanting to kill him for what he had done.

It should’ve been as simple as killing him, but…

“...All you’ll feel after you take your revenge… is emptiness.”

“...”

“I thought getting back at you by killing her would be enough to get rid of this pain…”

“Shut-up…”

“...But it’s still here; It hasn’t left me.”

“...”

“...You killed someone important to me yesterday, and.... I wanted to hurt you in the same way you hurt me.”

“Just stop talking already…”

“But… Now you’re suffering just as much as I am; I’m sorry.”

Laurence gritted his teeth and pulled the man by the collar to face him, albeit lazily with his lack of energy.

“I told you to shut-up! Just what the hell am I supposed to do now, huh!? How am I… How can I-!?”

How can I kill you after that!?

At that thought, Laurence dropped the man back onto the couch and stood there as the crashing sound of the rain filled the silence.

After what seemed like ages, Yamada spoke up again.

“I’m sorry.”

“...”

“I’m… sorry.”

“...What was her name?”

“...Sayaka.”

“...She… didn’t suffer.”

“...I wish I could say the same.”

“...I doubt we’ll ever meet again. Goodbye.”

Yamada took in a deep breath at Laurence’s statement and closed his eyes.

Laurence stopped looking at the man, similar to him, and walked off without bothering to pick up his baseball bat.

Just before he left the room, he could hear the man, who stared at him with such strength, starting to cry.

* * * * * *

There’s no more point to this life anymore.

Laurence thought this as he shakily walked through the pitch-black streets of the city in the blinding rain.

He didn’t care that his body threatened to shut down and leave him dying on the hard, brick sidewalk; he was going to die regardless.

How on earth can I kill anyone after that?

The ultimate death sentence; the inability to kill.

For a hunter like Laurence, it was impossible to become a trader or a producer at this point, especially since he had nothing.

Networking was also out of the question; not because he doubted his observations and memory, but because the job sometimes had a hand in killings, much like what Bug had done.

I’ll just… keep walking.

The lone figure proceeded into the night, the rain his only ally as it’s relentless assault of cold gave him the comfort that he would die quicker.

Walking.

On and on and on.

His energy was surprising, considering how he was wobbling into the Shade just earlier and hadn’t taken a rest since then.

“Laurence!?”

A familiar voice, Birdy, called out, but Laurence ignored it.

He could hear the footsteps approach him from behind.

Leave me alone, leave me alone, leave me to die-

“What happened to you, you look like you’re gonna croak!”

“That’s what I’m going for.”

“...What?”

“Go home to your nest, Birdy.”

“But-”

“Just go!”

Not even Laurence expected a scream to come out of his mouth with how sick he felt, but he summoned up enough energy from somewhere to scare the networker.

He never turned around to look at Birdy, but he heard her footsteps move slowly in the other direction as he continued walking.

* * * * * *

Ahhhh, hurry up and die already!

Laurence yelled at himself internally as his vision started to waver.

He had been walking for what felt like the entire night, despite the fact that it was still pitch black and raining outside.

Much like his determination to kill Yuna’s killer, his determination to kill himself by simply walking into the night was relentless.

He would’ve continued for much longer, but he slipped on the wet brick and fell on his face.

Ugh… Did the ground always feel this hard?

Laurence flopped over onto his back and the rain started to get in his eyes.

Annoyed by this, Laurence closed them.

...Heh, look at me all ready to die and I’m trying to make myself more comfortable.

It was a strange feeling, waiting to die.

The world seemed to be far away from him and most of his senses started to disappear, but that might have been the exhaustion and numbing cold.

...Yuna.

He felt the ache in his heart yet again as the memory of her warm smile came into his mind.

When he first saw her corpse, he hadn’t even grieved over it; all he thought about was killing.

How he would kill.

Again and again.

I was running away… from the very beginning.

In this world were killing was commonplace, he sought to relieve his pain through the same method that ended Yuna’s life.

This world… is wrong?

He killed Yamada’s lover.

Yamada killed his lover.

He killed Yamada’s guards.

If the guards had people who cared about them, then they would come to Laurence and he would have to kill them.

Killing was a selfish act, so it only made sense for them to do so… and yet they did it with someone else in mind?

But everyone was supposed to only care for themselves, right?

No.

This world… is definitely wrong.

As Yamada had proven, it wasn’t just Laurence and Yuna who cared for each other.

People wanted to care for each other; even if they did things in their own self-interest, they also wanted companions.

Yet, because no order existed, killing happened all the time for the sake of living.

Even though people desired one another's company, they’re too afraid to get close since the fear of being killed was always in the back of their minds.

Maybe even Birdy was proof of this; she showed some signs of being compassionate, if only a little, despite taking advantage of Laurence for the sake of stealing from Bug.

Not to mention the fact she was worried when she came across him earlier.

Everyone’s the same… They want to care, but they just can’t.

A society without morals, without rules, where people always acted in their own self-interest.

“Would Yuna still be alive… if things were different?”

Even as he asked the question, he knew the answer.

The entire reason Yuna died was because he had killed someone so they could eat some food; that was one of the ways to live in this world.

...If people didn’t kill and tried to work together to live…

...If everyone knew that they didn't have to be alone…

...If the world was different, then Yuna would be alive.

Laurence opened his eyes, despite the rain, and looked up, noticing a windowed display right next to him.

“...I walked… all the way back here?”

Gathering whatever strength he had left, Laurence got to his knees and crawled to the window of the run-down comic book shop; the heroes staring down at him with the same nauseating smiles they had when he left.

“Ha…. hahahahahaha…. Is god laughing at me? Does he think it’s funny, showing me such a convenient solution to all my problems?”

Heroes never existed in the first place.

Those words echoed in the mind of Laurence, who knew this to be the case.

All that heroes were, and ever will be, is a wish.

The wish that someone would swoop in and defeat the evil that no one else could.

That they would always do the right thing and save people in their time of need.

That they could handle everyone’s problems without taking a human life.

It was absolutely ridiculous to Laurence; he knew that no one had that kind of strength.

The reason this concept even existed was because of the weakness of humanity; why would there magically be someone like that if they were only dreamed up in the first place.

….But.

If there was a hero in the city, then Laurence had a few questions for them.

“Where were you when I killed Sayaka? When Yuna died? Hero? Don’t make me laugh! If such a pleasant thing existed in the first place, then I wouldn’t be suffering right now!”

He smashed his fist into the glass, a sharp pain running through his hand as he finally started to cry.

“...Hic...Yuna….Yuna!”

Those were the last words he remembered speaking before finally blacking out from exhaustion; the dark, cold night enveloping him as the rain continued.

* * * * * *

I know this is rather sudden, especially since I’ve gotten used to speaking like I have nothing to do with this, but it’s time for a little break from all this drama.

Maybe I should tell my story?

Well, it’s not like I can hear your confirmation or not, so I’ll just go ahead anyways.

*Ahem* Anyways, there are a great number of people here in the city; myself included.

Naturally, I won’t be able to go over every single individual, but don’t worry, I’ll be sure to go over the important ones.

...Actually, I’d rather not go into detail about myself yet; even if it is a pain to focus on someone else.

Trust me; I’m the most interesting character in this story.

But alas, my time has not come to enter into the spotlight, and I am forced to try and describe this story in a way that makes sense.

Can you imagine how boring it is, telling someone else a story you already know the conclusion to?

For example; Laurence lives and ends up meeting the resident of that run-down comic book shop, named Thomas, who pulls him out from the rain and saves his life.

Now I’m going to proceed to describe how Laurence woke up, as well as go over those little details I just filled you in on.

...Well?

Don’t you find it boring now that you know what’s going to happen?

* * * * * *

Laurence was certain he had died.

In his most lucid moments as he slipped in and out of his fever, he felt that his body was on fire.

He thought for sure that he was going to hell.

Then, when he finally opened his eyes a few days later, his vision began to clear up and he could make out the massive headache left from his trial.

He needed rest, but his headache pounded his brain in wakefulness, even if he had little to no energy left to get up.

“Ugh…”

He made a short moan in complaint as he tried tilting his head; he was in a small, narrow room with a small space that was just enough for the door near him to clear the bed he laid on.

The door itself was already open and he could see a stream of light peer from around the corner of the dark hallway beyond it.

He wanted to leave the bed, but as much as he tried, he could only barely muster the strength to sit up.

“Anyone… Is anyone there?”

He called out and soon heard something off in the direction the light was coming from.

Because of the headache, he couldn’t make out what the noise was, but he guessed it was a person who made it; probably the same one who put him in this room.

A shadow was soon cast on the light in the dark hallway, and Laurence waited for them to walk around to corner into his field of view.

What came from there was a young boy, with short, hazelnut colored hair and narrow eyes; the frown on his face made him seem irritated, but his hands carried a bowl of something that gave of steam.

Laurence was confused by the contradiction of the boy’s expression and his actions, which clearly showed that he was the one who had taken care of him.

Is someone making him do this, like a chore of some sort?

“No; I live by myself.”

The boy responded to Laurence’s thoughts, making him go wide-eyed in realization.

“...You’re a mutant?”

The boy stood there for a moment of hesitation before nodding his head in confirmation.

Mutants; humans who gained abnormal abilities due to the radiation leaked from the meteors.

Some could fly, others could control different elements… they were much more powerful than normal people.

Said normal people didn’t like that.

Whenever a mutant was found, they were often killed right away.

The main reason for this was simple; people feared the unknown.

In this violent world, the unknown was one of the scariest things for a human here.

If you had a certain amount of expectation for what would happen, then there was a level of comfort; mutants exceeded that expectation, however.

People were more insecure than ever before, with how this world worked; it was only natural that mutants would be singled out as a blight.

Most of them didn’t make a scene, since they were discriminated against whenever they were found out, and hid their powers from the people.

So when this boy admitted the fact to Laurence, he was more than a little surprised.

“Why are you telling me this?”

“As compensation.”

“...?”

“For looking into your head without permission.”

“...How much did you see?”

“All of yesterday.”

Laurence took a deep breath in and sighed before the pounding in his mind became unbearable again.

“Are you the reason I have such a headache?”

“No; the reason you have a headache is because you tried to kill yourself by sleeping in the rain, moron.”

The boy sharply stated as he held out the bowl for Laurence to take.

“Ah… thank you.”

Just as he took the bowl carefully, he had wondered what it’s contents were, staring down at the  yellow liquid with a mushy substance spread across.

“It’s chicken broth with some soaked crackers.”

“O-oh…”

“I can hear your disappointment, you know.”

...Will this really help my headache?

“Dunno, but there’s nothing else I can give you; that’s the last of it.”

“...Uh, thank you.”

Laurence leaned his head forward as a gesture of appreciation, but the boy just shook his head.

“Let me be perfectly honest here; I don’t like you.”

“But you saved me…”

“After you tried to kill yourself in one of the slowest ways possible.”

“...”

“The only reason I didn’t leave you out there to die was because of my idiot mother; that’s all.”

“Huh, but didn’t you say-”

“She’s dead now. ...Don’t you dare say you’re sorry, and don’t feel pity for me.”

“R-right.”

“You better not try anything stupid like that again and make me regret giving you the last bowl.”

“I won’t.”

Laurence acted more meekly than usual, his usual sharp attitude gone in the face of his recovering health.

If he had felt better, then maybe he would’ve been upset at the boy’s attitude, despite Laurence’s gratefulness for saving his life.

Instead, he just weakly sipped the soup with no spoon, trying to preserve his strength.

* * * * * *

After finishing the bowl and going back to sleep for a while, Laurence woke up still lacking energy, but without a headache.

He found that he was able to get up onto his legs now, and walked towards the source of light the boy had come from before.

The light was coming from beyond a curtain that hung in a doorway, just inches above the ground.

Pulling it aside, Laurence walked into a rustic interior of a place he thought he’d never see the inside of in his entire life.

“Wow…”

He was in the comic book shop he previously cursed at, surrounded by bookshelves packed to the brim with full color pages of many different superhero’s adventures.

The boy was sitting in a folding chair, reading an issue near the entrance before noticing Laurence’s presence.

“Don’t touch anything.”

Laurence gave a quick nod as he looked around.

There was a large counter beside him with a portable stove sitting on the counter.

He couldn’t see a pot or pan anywhere, so he assumed that the boy put them away somewhere.

“You’d assume right. I never leave them out when I’m done with them. They’re under the counter.”

Laurence laughed a little nervously, slightly unnerved by the mutant’s power, but not afraid.

Walking out to the space where the boy was, Laurence saw cardboard taped to the window display and door, preventing anyone from seeing the two inside.

“You’ve lived here all this time?”

“Yup.”

“Huh… I doubt people would think to live here either, so it must be pretty safe.”

“It is.”

Laurence looked at the boy who continued reading the comic, completely absorbed in it’s contents.

“...You never elaborated on why you saved me.”

The boy finally looked up from his comic and stared at Laurence straight in the eyes, an emptiness seen in his pupils.

“My mother was a fool who believed in good deeds. She died doing a ‘favor’ for someone, even when I told her not to. It’s simply how I was raised, that’s all.”

“If you hate it that much, then why do you read those-?”

“I’m sorry, but when did I ever say we were friends?”

“...”

“You’re clearly feeling better, so I’ll have to ask you to kindly leave.”

“...Hm.You’re right that I’m feeling better, so it’s easier to understand what’s going on here.”

You’re suffering too, huh?

The boy’s eyes widened in surprise at Laurence’s thought.

“Wait, what are you-?”

“You already saw in my mind what happened yesterday, right? Don’t you feel… the exact same way?”

“...”

“It doesn’t matter if you were raised that way; you’re the one who decided to help me. If you truly believed your mother was right, you wouldn’t have tried to stop her when she helped that person you mentioned, right? So she has nothing to do with what you did just now.”

“...I don’t want to hear this.”

“But you already have, didn’t you? I thought about this yesterday.”

“Just leave already, there’s nothing for you to do here.”

“No, there is one thing; let me read those comics.”

At the request, the boy’s expression hardened, but not quickly enough to hide the slight moment of joy he had on his face.

“You can’t be serious.”

“You’re hearing what I’m thinking right now, right?”

Laurence threw a thought out there, one that no one living in this world could possibly think of.

Well, except for someone who could no longer kill.

“You’re absolutely insane.”

The boy’s mouth involuntarily curled into a grin, the thought he just heard making his pulse rise from the excitement.

“If you’re serious right now, then you’ll die; there’s no doubt about it.”

“We’re all going to die if this keeps up anyways, aren’t we?”

“...You’re skipping a couple important conversation points right now.”

“Read my mind.”

“...Are you really the same person I picked up off the ground from yesterday?”

The boy incredulously asked as Laurence walked over to a bookshelf.

“Which series should I start with?”

Laurence asked that as if it were already decided.

The boy finally relented and gave his approval in a response.

“Fireman. It’s clichéd to the point where it wants to make me throw up, but all of the key points are there.”

“Perfect.”

“Wait… can you say it out loud?”

“Why?”

“Because I’m doubting what I heard from your thoughts; I just need to hear you say it, then I’ll know that this is really happening. Oh, and say it with spirit!”

The boy, who had never shown anything other than irritation towards Laurence, was looking at him with sparkly eyes and shaking in anticipation.

I knew it; even if they don’t realize it, people long for heroes despite the impossibility.

Laurence gave a sigh and prepared to give his declaration.

In this world, there were no heroes.

Even in the previous one, this was the truth; heroes were only a fantasy created by the weak.

But, perhaps more importantly, they were a symbol.

A symbol of all that was righteous and good in the world; one that people gravitated towards.

If such a symbol existed in this world, it would change; Laurence was sure of it.

“I’ll become a hero!”

This was the start of the biggest lie in the history of the world; the birth of a hero who should have never existed in the first place.