Kill or be killed

"Look what I got!" Kazumi said as he lifted a pack of Asahi.

The 5 men inside the house cheered.

"Come in, come in!" Fumitaka said as he stood against the door for his buddy to enter.

"How was the game tonight?" Kazumi asked as he laid the Asahi on the coffee table and dropped back on the couch.

"We smashed it!"

"It was close, but they were pussies after all."

The game was tight for the first half, but the opponents slowly went low on stamina. It was not an unusual thing. It was frightening that this team of players got more amped up as time went on.

This was clearly seen after the second quarter. They had been taking steroids and opioids for the game. The out of breath and innocent looking players couldn't stand next to the sweat-covered Mongol barbarians.

"Haha! Did you see their ace? They all look like they never got laid."

Fumitaka distributed the bottles after opening the package.

"Oi, oi, are you guys tryna piss me off? Bring me in next time." Kazumi said, faking betrayed. His friends were all in year 12. Naturally, he wasn't allowed to join the interschool basketball championship.

"Idiot! They'd notice your blind-ass on the spot!"

"I'm telling you; I'd pass. I'm way more man-looking than those wusses you been playing with."

"Hey man, why this bottle open?"

"Yea, mine too?"

"Who knows? Maybe I dropped some roofies in there."

"I don't see anything."

"It probably fell to the bottom."

Hajime looked through the dark brown glass and saw a dark spot at the bottom.

"Heheh, yea I see it." He threw his head back and emptied it without hesitation.

Fumitaka wrapped his arm over Kazumi.

"Why you being so nice today? You want something?" He grinned.

"Haha, nah senpai, I still owe you lots."

"Need to beat someone today? That'll make this the best night!"

Kazumi chuckled.

Hajime fell back into the couch unconscious.

The guys looked at Hajime in surprise.

"Nah, I can beat all you guys right now."

"Haha, yea if we're this wasted."

Kazumi lent his weight completely to the couch. His eyes stared ahead, no longer interested in the conversation.

"Senpai."

"Hm, what?" He chuckled. He was in a good mood.

"Remember her?"

"You miss it?"

"Something like that."

A few years ago, the school found and confiscated a box of dead animals ripped apart by Kazumi. His parents were notified, and he was admitted for psychiatric evaluation. Despite him getting his help, he had bouts of anti-social behaviour that resulted in him getting expelled from school. Kazumi had gotten better that he wasn't coming in for regular sessions and re-enrolled in another school.

Fumitaka had bumped into him killing a tree squirrel in the park. Amused, he had taken him to his gang and since then they've committed crimes like graffiti, drug use, property damage, theft, arson and assault. During an escape from a building, the security officer had fallen over. They ran back and beat him up. Along the way, they bumped into a schoolgirl. They made an excuse that they needed to take her back to their crib, one of the many real estate properties the rich father of Fumitaka's had owned, because she was a witness.

They tortured her but Kazumi was the one who really enjoyed her. She ended up dead the next morning and they had buried her. This secret taken to the grave has made them close. Kazumi was grateful to them for that experience.

"I liked everything we did but you know I always thought there was more."

"What? Like rape? Yea you go for it bud."

"Nah, something much more than that."

Fumitaka looked at Kazumi in confusion.

'Does this freak want to do taxidermy or something?' He thought as he remembered how he met Kazumi.

"wfuuurewuerh." He had taken a swig of the beer. He clutched to his throat and realised his friends were all foaming at the mouth and seizing.

"You drugged us? What the f--- did you put-mrrph"

Something dug into the back of his throat and attached itself to his spinal cord and started climbing.

Fumitaka silently grabbed Kazumi by his collar and then slowly fell to the floor on his back. The parasitic worm had climbed into his brain from the spinal cord. His eyes rolled back white and he convulsed violently.

"Hahh." Kazumi sighed.

He stood up and looked at Fumitaka's face.

"I'm grateful to you. I really am. But you really did a number on me back then." Kazumi placed his foot and gently caressed Fumitaka's forehead as if he were putting out a cigarette.

"You let me feel what it's like to take a life. It was a huuge high. Then you FU-ked with me!" His foot slammed down, breaking a nose.

"Told me to stop!"

Smack.

"You're a great man but you shouldn't have let me do that!"

Crack

Kazumi was frustrated that his senpai got him addicted to killing. In a society where he could be imprisoned for murder, he was not born at the right time. Kazumi's impulses would be highly valued in the past with swords and castles.

"Kill or be killed. That's… ahh." Kazumi lifted his head up like he was basking in divine light. His arms raised to his sides resembling a crucifixion.

"That's… how it… should be."

Underneath him was a crushed face. The skull had caved in and the brain burst out in chunks. The worm had died from the compression, but Kazumi didn't care. For now, he was in ecstasy for his fourth kill.

***

"We're almost at my house." Hikaru said.

"Oh." Chiho's determined face wavered. She hadn't seen anything that could point towards Aimi's disappearance. If Aimi did run away, she had this silly idea, hoping that if she was walking with Hikaru, who might be the sole reason Aimi had vanished, that Aimi would see or hear about this and come out from hiding.

She also thought that his presence would cause the alignment of the planets and fate would allow them to cross paths. Chiho intended to hitch ride Hikaru's magnetism to find her but if Hikaru was a bad guy, she'd glean something from the walk with him.

"We're here."

"Ah." Chiho said as she looked left and right and up and down for any clues.