17 - Thank You, You Can Go Now

[12 HOURS LATER]

“This is...surprisingly close to that place.”

Hayk, Sakuto, Dima, Oskar, Ausra, Rin and Ichika were all assembled in the small and oddly peaceful grassy area. The one where it felt as if one’s soul would be ripped away from everyday foggy life and be exposed to the sunlight of their own honest thoughts. They were all gathered by a small chunk of dug up dirt with nothing dug up underneath. A small limestone grave was erected by it, its surroundings blooming with small shy flowers.

“I hope this doesn’t upset you too much, Sakuto. The name, I mean.”

“No, it’s fine.” Sakuto replied to Hayk. “This is...exactly who he would've wanted to be remembered as.”

They stared down at the tombstone that was etched with the name of Kouta Hitori. It was Oskar’s idea. Kouta’s and Sakuto’s bond, a short while, bloomed into something that so many across the world would never achieve - the type of bond that Sakuto saw in a dream, the contents of which he started remembering more and more.

“Hayk, how safe is this place?” Rin asked. “We can’t risk this getting desecrated.”

“The name is undisclosed regardless.” Hayk sighed. “Even if it is, the tombstone has a completely different name. There’s a billion other Koutas here.”

“Rest easy, Kouta.” Dima kneeled down, patting the dirt in front of the grave. “You were incredible.”

“He really was.” Ausra added. “He wasn’t just strong, he was really kind too. No matter how hurt he was, he tried his hardest not to take it out on us.”

“He never did so.” Ichika said. Her eyes were slightly reddened, and she firmly gripped a small bouquet of pretty red flowers.

“He was the first actual student I got.” Hayk said, holding his palms close to his face. The sight pained him immensely. “I even thought about actually adopting him...fuck...”

“Hey, it’s alright.” Ausra comforted him.

Sakuto was the quietest. He just stared at the grave. An overwhelming mix of emotions consumed him, and he felt a sense of strange relief. He tried to not speak up, the same way he stayed quiet and sobbed only in his own mind during a funeral he attended a couple years ago. But eventually, he spoke.

“He was suffering.”

Everyone quickly turned their attention to Sakuto, some were surprised to hear his voice, while others thought he’d be the one speaking the most.

“I could see it.” Sakuto continued. “I tried to help him, tried to give him a purpose... I guess the fact that I ‘died’ pushed him over the edge. I was so close to helping him out too.”

“It’s not your fault.” Ichika said. “If anything, it’s my fault for causing this chain of events in the first place.”

“It’s no one's fault.” Hayk interrupted them. “The one’s whose fault this truly was are now all dead. Kouta is watching us from wherever he is right now and he’s proud that we won. We can at least somewhat enjoy the peace.”

“I wouldn’t call this peace, though.” Dima noted.

“Right...” Hayk sighed deeply, wiping a small tear from his right eye. “We will still need to disappear. You can all run away and live whatever life you want to live. Just don’t get caught, and help each other if you do.”

“You’re all strong now.” Rin added. “Especially with what Sakuto told us about himself and his soul expression, you’re all going to be protected. Sakuto, you’re potentially stronger than all of us here.”

Sakuto didn’t reply. At that moment he didn’t care about that stuff. A cold wind caressed him, and the sorrowful sun shone its beams of grief over the group. Rin sighed and slowly walked away from the grave, with Dima following her. Hayk shook his head in disbelief, taking a cigarette out of his pocket and trying his hardest to hide it before leaving as well, and Ausra soon caught up to him.

“Sakuto, I’ll be going now as well.” Oskar said, patting him on the shoulder. “I’m glad you’re back.”

“Right. Take care.” Sakuto said.

“I’ll never forget his reaction when he saw me back.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen him so heavily drowned by shock... but it was a good type of shock. The type that happens when whatever takes place, albeit unexpected and sometimes uncalled for, makes you smile.”

A brief two moments of silence passed. It was just Ichika and Sakuto left, alone in the embrace of nature and melancholy. For a while, just the bittersweet breeze was playing its soft melody in their ears.

“I’m sorry.” Ichika said, quietly looking down. “I shouldn’t have dragged you into this life. You wouldn’t have to be in this situation if it wasn’t-”

“Oh please, just knock it off already.”

“Huh?” Ichika seemed confused by the interruption.

“I want to live this type of life for as long as I can. I don’t want to repeat this over and over again.” Sakuto said, staring at the tombstone. “I’d go insane if I lived any other life. That's what I want, and that's what Kouta would want for me as well.”

“But why?”

“Because I feel like I have a purpose.” Sakuto said. “I was wandering without one for far too long. It felt empty, and everything felt meaningless and boring. That emptiness was what hurt me and Kouta.”

“Sakuto, can I ask you a question?” Ichika asked, a brief silence later.

“Go ahead.”

“Back then, why did you save me?” Ichika asked.

“Dunno.” Sakuto said. “I finally wanted to make a difference, I guess. And besides...”

“You looked alone.”

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“Is that so...?” Ichika wondered.

“Nobody cares about the outsider, but being one can be pretty awful.” Sakuto continued. “Something inside of me told me that I should help you out. That you were an outsider just like me. I recognized that loneliness in you.”

“...”

“I still don’t know how you came back to life by the way.” Ichika said after a long pause.

“I don’t know how I did either. But I’m glad I did.”

“Be honest, you didn’t really want to stay, did you?” Ichika asked. “You’re treating your resurrection awfully carelessly. It’s as if you don’t care.”

“And what if I don’t?” Sakuto asked. “What if I still struggle to see any worth in myself?”

“I’d probably call you dumbass and tell you how all of us care about you.” Ichika said, playfully punching Sakuto in the shoulder. “Especially me.”

“That’s nice to hear, I guess...” Sakuto said. “Thanks for the flowers by the way.”

“Ah...” Ichika said, both slightly embarrassed and caught off guard. “I guess seeing that must've been pretty heavy.”

“A little bit. It made me rethink my life for a bit and realize that maybe it’s not so bad after all.” Sakuto said with a faint smile. “I enjoyed the flowers, though. They were my favorite. It was the first time I’ve ever received flowers too.”

“Is that so...?” Ichika said, managing to hold her tears in a little. She clenched her fist a little after hearing that. She slowly turned around. “I’ll...leave you for some alone time. I know you’d like to mourn Kouta by yourself for a bit.”

“Yeah.” Sakuto said. “I guess we’ll see each other later...when we plan for what to do now that the war is over.”

After walking off for a little bit, Ichika stopped to ask one last question.

“Sakuto...”

“Hm?”

“Thanks.” Ichika quickly said, as if trying to suppress another line of thought that consumed her mind but was so dangerously close to flying out of her mouth. She left the scene.

Sakuto crouched down, placing his hand on the dirt. He remained like that for a while, until the appearance of a familiar figure in the distance made him quickly stand back up.

“Sakuto!” The old man exclaimed. “I really did expect to see you here.”

“Ah. Hello, Takechi-sensei.”

The man didn't exactly look senile. He was old, for sure, but he was still one of the strongest fighters in Tokyo, and a renowned and respected coach.

“Hayk Nakama kept me up to date with this unfortunate disaster.” Takechi said, standing next to Sakuto. “I see...they changed his name here too. You two really were like brothers.” He said, patting Sakuto’s head. “What have you been up to?”

“Well, I’m a soulful now.” Sakuto explained. “I died and came back to life, and I killed Diego Solano. I’m assuming I can share this safely with you.”

“Huh...for some reason, I’m not surprised that you ended up in a nonstandard mess like this.”

“Sensei...you’re a soulful too.” Sakuto suddenly said. “I can feel that you have a soul presence.”

“Hayk told me that as well when I met him in person that one time.” Takechi said. “But it doesn’t really affect me whatsoever. In fact, it helps me treat my wounds better. I don’t care for the GSC and I’m probably far too weak as a soulful to get involved in the same conflicts as you. I focus on training the next generation instead.”

“Your commitment is only admirable, sensei.”

“I did get approached by a fellow from the GSC a week or so earlier. They wanted to recruit me to teach martial arts courses in the soulful academy. I agreed to it as well. But due to strange fortune I felt awfully sick the very day Kouta decided to destroy everything.” Takechi said. “I imagine what would’ve happened had I gone there. Maybe I would’ve snapped him out of his state.”

“I think he was pushed to a point far beyond even listening to anyone...” Sakuto sighed.

Takechi bowed down and grabbed a handful of dirt from the grave, curiously observing it in his hand.

“Kouta was truly special. He was a good person.”

“Eh, I messed up. I gave a freezing man a warm blanket and then took it away and threw him back into the cold.” Sakuto said. “I finally managed to say some things to him that got his morale up too.”

“And what did you tell him that snapped him out of his mental darkness?”

“I was just...there for him. I helped him find a purpose, that being me and the others. It seemed to help him out.” Sakuto said. “The very next day, I died. Talk about coincidence."

“I stopped believing in coincidences a while ago.” Takechi smiled. “It pains me greatly to see who was once my star student have his name written on a tombstone. But such is life.”

“People die.” Sakuto said.

“They do indeed.” Takechi said. He slowly poured the dirt back onto the grave. “Once they die, they never come back.”

“Kouta’s at peace now.” Sakuto smiled, kneeling down. He placed his hand on the dirt.

“Whether that place is good or bad is up for God’s judgment now.” Takechi said. “I wish nothing but rest to Kouta’s soul.”

“Kouta, can you hear me?” Sakuto said in his mind, closing his eyes.

“I’m sorry I left you. I was weak and I couldn’t save my own life, and so I failed to save yours.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t get to see your divine acclamation. Or to hang out more with you. I’m sad that I’ll never get to tell you about my day or ask you to spar with me ever again.”

“But from the bottom of my heart, thank you. Thank you for being there for me.”

“You can go now, big brother. Please find your rest.”

“I’ll try my hardest in this shitty life of mine, okay?”

Sakuto slowly opened his eyes and stood back up. He and Takechi exchanged gazes before slowly leaving. A pair of colorful strelitzia flowers laid on the grave.

“Well, maybe it’s not as shitty as I think.”

“Woah...”

Erwin gasped in fascination after lancing at Otto’s decorated sword. Reina, on the other hand, was laughing to her heart’s content.

“All of that just for him?” She commented. “I reckon only one of them would be enough. That ‘adaptation’ thingy.”

“Adaptation takes time to take place.” Otto said, wiping some dust off of his sword with a piece of cleaning cloth. The three were in a rather cozy and large hotel room, seated by a coffee table, taking some time to relax. With such an immensely powerful weapon under their belt, they had no need to worry about virtually anything.

“So that’s why you also took light manipulation, right?” Erwin asked. “Because light...”

“Exactly.” Otto interrupted him. “There’s no better strategy I can think of, at least as of right now.”

“You’re overdoing it.” Reina said. “Just this adaptation will get you far enough. You know, if an ability is described as adaptation to anything and everything, you would expect it to truly adapt to everything, right?”

“You’re trying to say it can even adapt to absolutely inviolable barriers?”

“I don’t know, you’re the master strategist here.” She mockingly said, tossing a piece of pink chewing gum into her mouth. She waved a small notebook at herself. “Ah, it’s too hot here. Erwin, can you be a good boy and turn the AC on?”

“Solid idea.” Otto said. “Toss me some of the gum too.”

“So what now?” Reina said after handing the pack to Otto. “After yesterday’s firework show it’s fair to assume that one side superseded the other. I’m placing my bet on Hayk and his squad.”

“Our time invested in picking flowers here surely paid off. It is time I attend the matters in Washington D.C. and talk with our second greatest weapon.” Otto said. “Once I return, I will confront Hayk Nakama.”