The next day at school, besides the fact that I was extremely sleepy after fighting with my uncle over the broken mirror, my heart and mind were tranquil and calm, my usual confident smile being present on my face once again.
“You’re finally smiling.”
“Was I not smiling lately?”
Alice appeared beside and leaned closer to me from the other side of the table, looking happily at my face. I took my bag off the seat next to mine then she sat down there.
“You weren’t really smiling. At first I thought that it might be because of me. But I think it was just my imagination?”
Looking at me with her big eyes, I couldn’t help but steal a kiss from her lips, leaving her to look in shock then quickly glance around in a panic, trying to see if anyone saw us.
“Y-you idiot…! Didn’t you say we should keep this a secret?!”
She whispered to me panicked and I simply chucked then placed my arm around her shoulder and hugged her tightly.
“L-Leon?!”
“Ah~ screw it. I don’t really mind or care about it anymore. What are they going to do? If anyone dares to touch you, I’ll be sure to meet them after school for a chat.”
“Eh?”
She looked confused but after seeing my easy-going smile, she also decided to just don’t care anymore and hug me back, a bright smile on her face.
“O-oy…! Oy, look at that!”
“No way… are they together after all?”
“I thought Alice was only trying to befriend him?”
“Rather, it seemed weird for her to follow that guy around so much. She must’ve been in love for a while now.”
“I get that, but how come Leon agreed to that?”
“Rather, how come Leon got a girlfriend?! Wasn’t he supposed to be in love only with his work? And how come one of the most beautiful girls from school went for him?!”
“He is rather popular, you know?”
“What?!”
Whispers started to resound in class and rumors quickly spread, but neither of us could care as we were simply too absorbed by one another, the world outside being only background noises.
“So, Leon. Father decided to invite you for dinner tonight. I told him that you might be busy so… If you can’t then don’t mind it.”
“Hmmm…”
Alice asked me right before we had to go back home, the thought that Darius wanted to see me surprising me greatly. I thought for a bit then I looked at her with serious eyes,
“I skipped work once already. I must talk with my uncle about this.”
“Alright. Shall I come with you?”
“No need. You can go home first. I’ll contact you whenever I’ll be able to come or not.”
“Alright.”
On my way to uncle’s place, I started thinking about what was her father planning by inviting me there.
There are more things he could do…
One: Kill me. But I highly doubt it. Although father it’s in prison, he’s still an officer. His connections could easily find out what happened and drag the proof to him, at the same time finding him and his family.
Two: Feed me a poison that would handicap me one way or another. But again, that would be risky if something goes wrong with the poison.
Three: threaten me into silence one way or another.
I smiled amused and simply shrug my shoulders indifferently,
“Well, whatever happens, happens. At this point, I’m just curious.”
I chuckled as to myself and simply decided to go with the flow. As I expected after explaining everything my uncle agreed to me leaving, but he still asked,
“Are you sure you wanna go?”
“Yeah. As you said it, I gotta finish this s***. Or else, the work will never be done.”
I changed my clothes while uncle stood by the door, drinking his favorite wine as always.
“You gonna take that as well?”
He pointed at the knife I created. I couldn’t really say it was done as only the blade and the part where the handle should be attached was made, placing only two pieces of wood around it as an improvised handle. The blade wasn’t sharpened yet while the tip was round as well, unable to call it a knife, or a weapon in general.
I looked at it then pushed my lips upwards.
“Yeah, not a bad idea. I gotta show my worth after all.”
“That edgeless blade sure isn’t the best choice. Is it even finished?”
“Yeah… This is finished.”
I looked at it with a satisfied smile and my uncle understood what I meant, smiling amused,
“I see… So that’s your answer to your troubles, is it?”
“Yep. This will be my answer.”
I threw the knife in my bag and prepared to go, uncle not saying anything anymore as he simply went to work on the set of armor, humping at the end amused,
“At least try not to get killed, will you? I still need help with that command.”
“Yeah~ about that. I won’t promise anything.”
“Pfft.”
Afterward I left for Alice’s place, announcing about my arrival beforehand. Getting down from the bus, to my surprise, her father waited for me at the station, a grave look on his face.
“Good evening, Mister Kurosaki.”
I smiled cynically while greeting him, his face dark as if deep in thoughts.
“Sir Roil.”
He nodded his head then walked me to his house, not saying a word. His clothes were casual but I could tell that his heart was still shaken by how unsteady his feet were for a judo practitioner.
We continued on and, rather than enter the house through the front door, Darius walked me towards another entrance that was taking us to the dojo, entering inside the free space.
“Do I have to take off my shoes?”
“… Only if you want to.”
Seeing him take his shoes off and bow his head before entering the dojo, I asked amused but did the same, already knowing the custom before entering the training grounds.
We went inside on the tatami and after that, he kneeled with both knees down and took a meditation position, trying to calm down his rushing heart and chaotic breathing. Me on the other hand, I sat down by taking a rather relaxed position, with one leg stretched forward while the other pulled close, one arm resting on the knee while the other sustaining my body from behind.
“So? Why bring me here?”
I asked relaxed and in a form that didn’t show too much respect. Darius didn’t seem troubled or surprised by my behavior and then he slowly opened his eyes, guilt and pain flashing through his eyes as he bowed down all the way to the ground, showing deep remorse for what he has done.
“Mister Roil, please forgive me.”
“…”
I remained frozen for a moment, but then I quickly calmed down as I never thought of this possibility.
“Well, that sure was unexpected.”
I said while chuckling amused, pushing my hair backward while trying to control my bursting emotions. After a deep sigh, I glared sharply at him, my voice low and threatening,
“You sure have guts to ask for forgiveness after screwing it so bad, old man.”
“I am aware of that.”
He said in a firm voice and then he continued with the same pleading voice,
“I am aware of how your father hunted down everyone who might have threatened his family, ending up killing almost everyone who was set free, together with them, their families and friends…”
“Wait… weren’t there only 50 people murdered by him? If it’s as you said, then there should be a few times more than that. And how did he did that on his own?”
“He was helped and agreed to take the full blame.”
“… Why do you know all of this?”
I was greatly shocked to hear that he was helped, but even more so after hearing that he knew all of this. I looked sharply at him then he got up for a bit, a pained expression visible on his face.
“Because… one of the people who’ve been killed was my friend that I tried to release… ending up getting killed by one of your father’s subordinate, killed together with his whole family…”
“No way… but how did the news report it as there being only 50 people? And how come you know all of this?!”
I got up in shock and couldn’t believe my ears.
W- just what the heck happened one year ago?! It wasn’t a one-man vendetta? But a whole squad? Just who were those people who worked with him?
Knowing what I was thinking, Darius sighed then said calmly,
“I will be sure to answer all your questions.”
After that, I sat back down and waited for him to talk, no more as relaxed as before, but rather tense and focused.
“Your father was the officer of this city. You already know this. However, what you might not know is that, in the past, your father was part of the special forces of our country’s army. The reason why he was demoted to the rank of a simple officer of a city was that one of his superiors tried to hit on his wife, ending up with that superior being almost beaten to death.”
“What the heck…?”
I was surprised to hear this but not shocked. Knowing how protective father was, for sure he would break the hand of the first person that tried to grope mother, herself being a rather beautiful lady.
“Although he was demoted, his brotherhood with his teammates from the special forces still remained strong. Such, after the tragedy happened, he easily made them help him with seeking revenge. They didn’t even need to learn who did it as they were only begged to hunt for everyone who was released, their families and friends included. After the deed has been done, the country couldn’t simply just throw an entire squad of around 40 special forces into jail, deciding to mask everything as it being done by the hands of one man. To be sure this won’t happen again, the squad has been sent to fight in the Middle East while your father’s connections got limited to only those inside the police ranks.”
Only from between the police ranks…? just how many other connections did he had before? How come I never heard of this?
I looked down while trying to calm my beating heart, sighing once and breathing in as to clear my mind. I opened my eyes and asked firmly,
“And how you know all of this?”
“After the mistake of trying to release my friend from prison with that ridiculous law, I’ve been made to take full responsibility for it, coming up with this solution…”
“So you masked it all… your friend’s and his family’s death included… together with that damn squad… and blamed it all on my father?”
“Yes.”
“Are you mad?”
I gritted my teeth and glared at him while feeling so mad, my eyes turned bloodshot. My whole body trembled while I tightly clenched my fists, but I tried to control myself as I simply breathed out loudly, my voice trembling from anger.
“My God, I never thought I could feel so disgusted by a person in my life…!”
“…”
I shook my head but then I tried to find all of this just funny, a dark smile on my face. I then glared at him as he was with his head still down and asked calmly,
“So you did all of that for a criminal?”
“Wrong… He was never a criminal… He was framed and ended up going to prison in his superiors’ stead. They framed an amount of money laundered on his name without his knowledge, ending up being the first and also the last suspect as he was instantly thrown into prison.”
“And so you decided to fight against the current and created such a ridiculous law that could help him…? Rather than take your time in finding proof and building connections, you took the most screwed up decision?”
“… What made me go with this decision… was the fact that everybody easily accepted the idea.”
“Of course, corrupted leaders prefer corrupted ideas. They wanted a new possibility to fill their pockets some more, am I right?”
“…”
I snorted amused as I couldn’t help but feel bad for him, but only a bit. Used, tricked, and in the end, be the main cause of so many murders, one that led to his own friend’s demise. If this wasn’t Karma working at its finest, then I wasn’t sure what it was.
“Was it worth it?”
“…”
Funny. I couldn’t help but find it just too f****** funny.
“so many innocents… Even your friend’s family… was it worth it?”
“…”
“It wasn’t worth it, was it? Of course not~ haha~.”
I couldn’t help but face-palm while laughing, thinking just how screwed up the system was to let such ridiculous things happen. Make laws to create order? More like, make laws to create opportunities. After all, they are in power, so who could stop them? The court? Just shove a few millions down their throats and they’ll keep quiet like crickets in winter.
Work hard for what? Study hard for what? In the end, won’t you just end up as another pawn for such people?
I, for one, find it hilarious. Fishes like Darius being picked from the pond then used and fried for their own good, only to then be cast aside with all the blame and responsibilities on his head. How can you not love it? It’s like a divine comedy.
“Sir Roil.”
His body was shaking and teardrops started to appear on the tatami, making me raise an eyebrow. He was sad? Of course he was. He was desperate? Well, being used doesn’t feel nice, that’s for sure. And I couldn’t help but understand him as I, just like him, was a victim of all of this as well. But unlike him, I found it ridiculously funny and no longer a tragedy.
“What is it?”
“If you want to kill me, then do it now. Just please… leave my family alone.”
“Kill you…? With what. A knife? I did take one with me just in case.”
“?!”
He then looked up and the next moment, a cold metal was pressed on his neck, my face a few centimeters away from his with my sharp eyes glaring right into his.
“Believe me, I seriously wish to kill you, just like this!”
-SWISH!-
I slashed his neck and then he fell on his back from panic, quickly covering his throat.
“… Huh?”
Feeling or seeing no blood, Darius looked once again at the object that I was holding, and after seeing how the knife had its blade rounded, he remained baffled for a moment.
“You…”
“I won’t kill you, Darius, for more reasons. One of them is that you don’t deserve death.”
“…”
His face paled as I placed the knife back in my bag.
“I won’t tell to my father, and if you wish for your daughter’s wellbeing, I advise you to not tell him either. While at it, better change your family name as well or something.”
“Why… are you forgiving me?”
“…”
I stopped for a moment then showed to him my knife once again.
“See this? This is the only weapon a blacksmith should carry besides a hammer.”
“A blacksmith?”
“Yes. I craft weapons, especially those with sharp edges. A hammer is for hammering, while a blade is for cutting. I like fighting but won’t do it for a living. I’m not a fighter, nor a cop, a soldier, or some other dude that fights and kills for a living. I’m just a blacksmith, and the round blade of this knife represents the amount of damage a blacksmith should deal to another person. It can be blunt, it can be heavy, but it shall not kill, nor shall it threaten lives. Still being a blade, shows my uncontrollable desire for violence, but being blunt, shows my desire to not make this into a habit and wish to control it. Unlike father, I should not destroy but only create. Knowing myself, it would be hard, but I’ll deal with it.”
After saying this, I turned away from him and Darius followed my back baffled, looking at me unable to comprehend what just happened.
Just before I could open the door to leave, Alice appeared from the other side surprised, seeing both of us inside.
“Huh? Leon? Dad?! What are you two doing here?! I thought someone left the lights open in here. Why are you two here-… Dad, did you threaten Leon?”
“N-no, no, he did nothing like that. Right, Dar- SIR! Right, sir?!”
I turned with an urgent face at him and Darius coughed once then faked a cool expression on his face,
“Indeed. We just talked about… Life.”
“… Life?”
“Life.”
She glanced suspiciously at us and I nodded agreeing, feeling like face-palming at his excuse. She then shrugged her shoulders and invited us in. I sighed a breath of relief then Darius walked beside me, whispering closely,
“You said there was another reason why you decided not to seek revenge…”
“Yeah… you guessed it already.”
I then turned at him, my face calm.
“It’s because of Alice. She doesn’t deserve to go through what I did… Even if her father does…”
“… I thank you for that… and I’m sorry.”
“I don’t need your thanks… neither your apologizes… Just be sure that she won’t have to bear your responsibilities in the future.”
“Yes…”
Darius sighed deeply then walked me towards the kitchen, having the promised dinner together.
