Zane Part 1

Haruka walked over to the nearest field of flowers and started to pick some. He chose the ones on the side, careful not to ruin the beautiful scenery. It did not take long before Zero joined in too.

"I wonder if she would like this type of thing," Zero muttered.

"Do you also have someone?" Haruka asked.

Zero did not reply right away, and Haruka thought he had brought up a painful topic for a moment. Many people lost their significant other now that the world has turned upside down like this.

"Sorry if that is a sensitive subject for you."

Zero shook his head. "My partner is alive. But maybe she is better off dead. She has taken so many of those drugs and has lost her mind. Although she already had a few screws loose before, I believed I could still keep her in check."

That is even worse, a drug addict. Those drugs distributed are not normal either. Once when he was studying with Nobuhiko, he got a look at those drugs. They may look normal to regular people, but looking at it made him feel ill for somebody like him.

"Where is she now? Are you not together?"

"I abandoned her to go search for my friend." Zero trailed off. "She told me if I walked out on her, I would never see her again. That woman is many things, but she tends to keep her promises. It is most likely that she will never appear before me now."

'He walked out on his woman to search for his friend. His friend must be in danger.' This guy is a good person, after all.

Before they could exchange any more words, he felt a familiar presence.

"Hey, Haruka, are you ready to-" Kiryu frowned when he saw the man beside him. "You--"

Haruka was about to introduce them when Kiryu grabbed hold of his collar and hissed. "Zane, what are you doing tricking Haruka?"

At those words, Haruka's eyes widened, realizing. Zane? Where did he hear that name before?

'The man you were close to and served is Zane.'

Zero and Zane are the same people?

'I did think it was strange; for some reason, when I talked to him, it felt natural. When he saved me, too, it felt familiar. Occasionally when they talked, there would be a pained gaze in his eyes.'

Haruka walked over and pulled Kiryu's arm away from Zane.

"Wait, he saved me."

He knew how ridiculous his words sounded, but he could not hate the man for some reason.

"Haruka, get out of the way. Don't you know it's because of him that you got dragged into this mess?"

Right, Zane admitted that he dragged him into this mess, he admitted it, and yet something is wrong. Think, think hard. 'Try to remember Haruka!'

At that moment, something flashed in his head.

…..

A memory of a man, no himself shackled inside a stone-cold room with no light source.

"I finally found you."

Despite having been beaten until he was unconscious, he received many wounds. Haruka could still recognize this man. But he knew his consciousness would fade soon.

'Soon, I will be nothing but a lifeless puppet.'

"Z-zane." Haruka managed to say.

A pained look spread across the man's face, and Haruka laughed weakly. "You do have a soft spot for me."

"You called me your friend."

His gaze softened when he heard those words. "Right, I did that the last time you lost control of your powers. You know I always saw you as my friend, no matter what bad things you made me do. The reason I did them all was because I wanted to help you. I knew the darkness was eating away at you. I knew why you wanted Lila too."

'It's true I approached you because I wanted your sweetheart to appease my darkness and save myself. But that is not the case anymore.'

"Yeah, you're not a bad guy. Even when I went on those dangerous jobs, you always watched over me just in case something went wrong." Haruka trailed off. "About those women who flocked to me. It seemed like it was Sophia's doing from the start. Heh, aren't you supposed to be the villain? How could you let a woman like that walk all over you."

From the very start, it was not Zane; it was all Sophia; if he had noticed that before, then none of this would have happened.

Before he could say another word, Haruka felt bile rise to his throat, and he started to cough. But what came out was not vomit but blood.

Zane's gaze dimmed. "How much did they give you?"

"It's fine."

His friend shook his head, and he looked around the room. There were still some traces of several bottles on the desk.

"Haruka, you have to-" Zane slammed his fist against the wall, frustrated. "Damn, this is not what I wanted to do."

"You're the one who recruited Sophia. I already warned you before how bad she was. I'm sorry, but you're partly to blame too."

But this confirms that Zane is no longer the ring leader. Sophia must have taken over while Zane was preoccupied with other things.

"How lame leader." Haruka joked.

"This isn't funny," Zane grunted. "Everything is ruined. So many people are infected now. How can anyone build a new world if there are no living humans?"

This person is truly an unusual one. 'But is that not why I joined him? I sensed there was more to his plan than destroying the world.' At that time, he did not have anything. He had nothing but the desire to keep his wife safe.

"Haruka, just wait. I will save you, and I will stop those two."

'No, Zane don't - they-they will try to. Sophia will hurt you.' Haruka, however, could no longer talk. He felt the remaining strength slowly leave his body. He can't let Zane get hurt.

The image of his wife appeared in his mind, and he paused. With Zane's way, it should be okay for them to meet. Besides, Kiryu will not let Lila get harmed. Haruka used the last remains of his strength and grabbed hold of Zane's arm.

A small burst of light surrounded Zane when he did that, and his friend's appearance gradually changed. Zane's now black hair had turned white, including his clothing. Zane looked at him, startled.

"-me-meet-Li-la-" Haruka weakly mumbled.

He infused the remaining of his energy and gave it to Zane. It is only a temporary fix to appease the darkness, but it should be fine. With this, it should be safe for Zane to meet Lila.

'Even though I trusted him a long time ago, I did not want him to meet Lila because I was afraid that his darkness would affect her. But with this, it should be fine. Lila will sense what I did; that should be enough to make her trust Zane.'

At this action, Zane took something off his neck and wrapped it around his. It was the pendant he always wore.

"This will be invisible. Sophia will not see it. It is not much, but with it, no matter what she does, you will not die."

Zane wore an apologetic look on his face, almost like he was sorry that this was all he could do for him.

But this was more than enough. Even if he loses himself after today, he will remain alive. He will find a way to return to Lila.