7 - String Of Fear

[SEPTEMBER 29TH, 5:00PM, TOKYO]

“Here, drink this.” Ausra said, chucking a bottle of sweetened herbal water to Ichika. The latter ignored the supply drop and let the bottle strike her head. She sat on the floor of her (technically Sakuto’s) apartment, holding onto her knees. If it hadn't been for Ausra’s efforts, she would’ve starved to death already.

“I’m not thirsty.” Ichika said, slowly getting up.

“You know that slowly killing yourself isn’t gonna bring Hayk back, right?”

“This...isn’t about him.” Ichika said. “Let’s go outside. I need some fresh air.”

“Then what’s the case?” Ausra said. “Do you need your idol to be next to you? Too bad, the best he can do is call you. He’s too busy hunting a president killer now.”

“Let’s go outside because if you don’t shut up I’ll destroy something.” Ichika said, opening the door and leaving.

“So tell me, what happened?” Ausra asked, following her. The weather was cloudy. The streets felt dead. They walked a few hundred meters before Ichika even gave an answer.

“It’s...with Sakuto.” Ichika said, stopping for a second.

“What’s with him?”

“Hayk promised that he’d come back, but...” Ichika teared up again. “He’s gone now.”

“And let me guess, you think the same will happen to Sakuto too, right?” Ausra asked.

“Kind of.” Ichika sighed. “I really am pathetic, am I not?”

“Not really, you’ve just had it pretty awful with people leaving or abandoning you. It’s normal to feel that way, especially in your case.”

“Then what should I do?”

“Trust him. Trust that he’ll stick around.”

“No way. I’m scared." Ichika quickly said. "I'm scared that I'll just make things worse for him."

“I’ve talked to Oskar.” Ausra said. “Your feelings for Sakuto are mutual. There. You have the confirmation. Are you happy?”

“M-mutual?” Ichika asked, surprised. “That’s good...but...that’s not what I meant.”

Ichika had every right to feel this way. Sakuto was about to fight a soulful that single-handedly repelled the strongest known combat unit in a brutal 6-on-1 and survived. But the pain was far more deep-rooted for her.

Hayk was a father figure for her when her family rejected her. He died after promising to come back. Kouta and Tsunehiro were both models for her, keeping her company when she was feeling down and trying their hardest to protect them. They both died. Death, death, death, it chased her everywhere like a dog, wiggling its tail and destroying those who she cherished. What would happen to Sakuto? If she trusted him and he fell in battle, would she be destroyed even more than she already was? Could her mind even handle it? Her distrust, in this case, acted like a paranoid defense mechanism from a greater evil.

And on top of that, she wasn’t just scared. She also felt guilty. Every single event that unfolded in his life was technically her fault.

“It’s like everything that comes close to me ends up being destroyed...”

“Hey, Ichika, it’s fine.” Ausra said.

“Oh no, not this again...”

“Everyone...and everything...” Ichika said, gritting her teeth in anger.

“Hey, Ichika?” Ausra said, stopping her. “Do you feel it? It feels like there’s a soul presence nearby.”

“I just...keep causing everything...I’m the reason Hayk did, aren’t I? A fucking failure like me-”

“Ichika, damn it, focus!” Ausra said. “It’s a strong presence.”

“Thank you for making my work much easier.” Reina said, turning the corner of the street and facing them. “Your friend’s crying made her soul presence turn into a firework. Like the ones they have in festivals in Berlin.”

“I remember her face-!”

“Did you hear? The president of America is dead. And the votes are shifted towards Dyeman now after he bullshitted his ass off during the debates.” Reina continued.

“What do you want from us?” Ausra said, clenching her fists.

“I remember your pretty faces.” Reina smirked. “Your friend’s face is rather ugly now, though. Just looking at her makes me feel sick.”

“Fuck off...” Ichika said.

“What’s that?” Reina laughed. “Don’t you know how to speak to women older than-”

“I said fuck off!” Ichika yelled, dashing at her. Before Reina could even activate her string trap, Ichika broke the distance. A large formation of ice knocked Reina away, throwing her into the wall of a nearby building.

“Ichika...?” Ausra said, running towards her. “Why would you be so reckless? Her power is something to do with strings, what if she-”

“I don’t care.” Ichika replied. As the dust settled, Reina revealed herself once more. And Ichika had only frustration in her eyes.

“I can’t keep going like this...”

Ichika broke the distance, and Reina charged forward. Ichika created another blast of ice, knocking her enemy away. Reina, on the other hand, sliced the ice apart with her string. They formed a whip-like weapon. The whip struck at Ichika, but she managed to evade the attacks. Getting closer, she struck Reina with a one-two and managed to cut her face with her kunai.

Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

“I don’t deserve Sakuto’s feelings.”

Instead of continuing her assault, Ichika grabbed Reina by her uniform. Reina rejoiced, her smile conveying her bloodlust. She tried to decapitate Ichika with one swift attack, but Ichika was faster.

“Soul Interpretation.”

“Why...am I scared...”

“Flash Freeze.”

Reina barely managed to free herself from Ichika’s lethal grasp. She quickly jumped back, almost terrified. Her uniform was half frozen and torn up, some parts of her body were covered in blood.

“So this was the girl...that killed Hwang? Hah...”

“I should start taking this more seriously. But I just can’t...”

“The despair on her face is making me feel all sorts of things! Ah, I’m gonna start shaking, this feels way too nice!”

Ichika fired a pair of icicles, but they were blocked. But Reina’s strings couldn’t be evaded this time. They did some serious damage to Ichika, carving a dozen cuts on her already scarred body.

But Ausra managed to stop the damage from getting worse. She kicked a pebble at Reina’s direction, causing an explosion on impact. With the dust and smoke concealing her advance, she broke the distance. Reina’s deadly glance clashed with Ausra’s somewhat hesitant eyes. She grabbed the explosive soulful by her neck, preparing for a one-shot kill.

In the heat of the moment, however, she forgot that she had two opponents, not one. The one she thought she rendered unable to fight was surprisingly persistent. A frozen spear pierced her stomach, stopping her attack.

Ausra used the moment to throw a hook at Reina’s jab, knocking her away with the explosive power. Ichika followed it up with another barrage of icicles.

“Ichika, move with me.” Ausra said, charging at her enemy. She picked up a piece of ice from Ichika’s previous attacks and imbued it with explosive power.

“Now.” Ichika said, charging at Reina. The latter seemed to have recovered from her injuries...surprisingly fast? Ichika used makeshift ice blades to fight her off, trying to be as unpredictable as possible. Once Reina threw a punch, Ichika evaded and allowed the bomb to connect.

“Hayk taught me everything about soulful combat.”

Ausra rushed in, getting tagged on her way by Reina’s strings. With cuts on her face, she closed the distance and landed a flurry of strikes. Ichika flanked behind Reina and shoved an ice blade into her stomach.

“He told me...”

“That the number of opponents doesn’t increase the difficulty of the fight algebraically...”

Ichika dashed back, clasping her hands and firing off an ice arrow at Reina’s neck. Ausra, at the same time, put all her strength into an explosive haymaker that knocked Reina back.

“...it does so exponentially.”

Ichika worked off of that, using her ice blast to knock her into the air. Ausra kicked another shard of ice at her, the explosive impact resembling a firework on a starry night.

“What the hell was her problem?” Ausra said. “Ichika, are you alright? Quick, let’s-”

Ichika’s right arm fell off.

“Ichika!” Ausra yelled, shocked by the event.

“Ausra, stay back.” Ichika said, gritting her teeth and whimpering in pain. “She’s still alive.” She covered the wound with ice, stopping the gushing blood.

“How amusing...” Reina giggled to herself. Her wounds were patched up with strings, and she seemed as ecstatic as ever.

“How dare you...you bitch!” Ausra said, kicking another explosive shard at her. This one landed almost perfectly, destroying and decapitating her right foot. It was quickly recreated by the strings, beginning to transform back into flesh.

“It’s the strings...” Ichika mumbled. “Without them, she’s gonna bleed out.”

“So we disable the strings!” Ausra yelled. Reina descended back on the ground, swinging her strings, trying to intercept Ausra. She succeeded. Ausra kept getting cut more and more, but she continued pushing forwards.

Ichika conjured more ice arrows, but these were generally weaker. Her mind was all over the place, and the pain didn’t help either. They were destroyed by Reina, who planned to decapitate Ausra next. In such situations, when Ausra lost her temper, it was impossible to stop her.

She attacked Reina with a flurry of explosive punches, knocking her into the window of a tall glass and cement building behind her. The building was instantly dismantled apart, courtesy of the powerful and quick strings. Ausra, yelling in rage, kept chucked explosive debris at her, with no result.

“Ichika, get to Rin! Heal your arm! I’ll hold her off!” She said, closing the distance again. The strings reformed into a whip again and struck her stomach, knocking her back a couple dozen metres. Her stomach was starting to bleed, and she felt like throwing up.

“Rin...”

“I got it!” Ichika said, starting to retreat. “Ausra, get back to Rin, now!”

“Huh?” Ausra was surprised. “Why does she want to bring her to Rin?”

“Is it because of...”

“Good call.” Ausra said, smiling in hope. She barely managed to get up and sprint towards the gym.

“Oh, no, where are you running away?” Reina asked, her face bloodied and covered in dust from all the explosions. “The fun’s only just beginning.”

“I honor Otto’s intentions. I respect him as a person, and his orders are my obligations.”

“But...this is so much fun!”

“The scent of my victims’ fear, the hopelessness in their eyes...it makes them look like little dolls that I could spend hours and hours playing with. Ah, all the dolls that I had as a kid...too bad they were thrown away for being all torn-up.”

“It’s an almost orgasmic feeling...”

Reina restrained Ichika, managing to wrap her foot with a string. She couldn’t push forward anymore, and so she did the only viable thing. With a blast of ice, she cut her own left foot off.

“Ichika, are you insane?!” Ausra yelled, seeing the sight.

“We’re going to Rin anyways!” Ichika said, launching herself away from Reina’s strings. Ausra caught her, and used her explosions to jump around. Reina didn’t fall back, she used her strings to swing across the buildings, fast enough to catch up with them.

“You’re not scared of bleeding out?!” Ausra asked.

“I froze my wounds...it shouldn’t be an issue...” Ichika said. “It hurts...”

“If I say I don’t deserve life, why do I keep fighting so hard to live?”

“Am I supposed to live in fear? Fearing others’ kindness?!”

“I see the gym.” Ausra said. She propelled herself and Ichika down, and was distracted by the sound of a whole building being cut in half. Reina revealed herself, her bloodlust at an all time high. She grabbed the dismantled piece of the building with her strings, spinning it around in the air and preparing to chuck it at them.

“Shit-!”

“I can’t explode all of that without any special preparations!”

“Ausra...keep still...” Ichika said.

“No way, we’re gonna get crushed!” Ausra objected.

“Just shut up and stay still.”

She raised her left arm and aimed. She had enough inside her to create an icicle. The shot was accurate enough to destroy the string that held everything together. The remnants of the building fell down on the other side.

“Now let’s get to Rin...” Ichika said. It looked like her consciousness was starting to fade away. There was another wound that cut her stomach open that she didn’t notice.