An act

The intruder had crashed in unexpectedly and too quickly for them to react except for Hikaru. Hikaru's strength and speed had increased exponentially from consuming over 10,000 people although it reached a plateau just as quickly. Combined with his hidden ability parallel thought, his reaction speed is boosted several times.

Hikaru's back was facing before the window and so the intruder aimed for it with their fist. However, since no one was standing behind Hikaru, he had summoned an eye at the back of his head earlier. While he could keep it there at all times or summon more eyes at different places, Hikaru found that idea distasteful.

He still prioritised style over certain things even though his mindset was about maximising the benefits and minimising the risks.

His third eye saw the person break-in. He didn't flinch. He simply grew his right-wing and turned clockwise. That simple action knocked the mid-air intruder back out through the window, tracing the arc from where they jumped.

Hiromi's eyes glittered just like his white wings do. As the intruder was easily taken care of, Junpei's shock 'spotlight' went from the intruder to the angel-like wing that just popped out of Hikaru's back.

Hikaru stood before the broken window and watched the girl below lookup. It was Chiho. There was blood caked all over her. She looked back at him with seething rage.

"Eyes of vengeance and wearing pyjamas..." He muttered.

Hikaru had gotten the gist of what happened to her.

"You two, stay up here while I handle this." He said without looking back and jumped down.

"Do you know her?" Junpei asked. Both Hiromi and Junpei stepped in to watch from above.

Just as Hikaru landed on his feet, Chiho jumped to tackle him down, screaming while she did so. Hikaru sidestepped and grabbed her back then he spun around in a circle, redirecting her flight into the stone wall fence of his house. Hikaru took care not to use his full strength but he didn't go easy either.

Chiho was smacked into the wall and slowly got up, battered. She bent forwards in pain while holding her right arm that was hanging down. Dark purple bruises appeared on the points of contact over her body that had collided with the bumpy surface of the stone wall. The bruises were tinted with red as blood dripped from those places.

She could only tolerate a few more hits.

"Why are you attacking me?" Hikaru asked.

He was aware of the answer but wanted confirmation.

*Cough* Chiho spat out some blood.

"Why?" She shouted. "You're asking me why! Because you killed her of course!"

"..."

Pain. A migraine that he had felt before in the diner when he was overloaded with emotions, started to come back. What he should be feeling as an empath, guilt, sorrow, regret was contradicting with his current morals and methods. That conflict began shredding his mind. His body was healing him just as quick as it was ripping him apart so a simple migraine was all he had to deal with. The alternative was losing his mind.

Chiho wiped off a smear of blood from her lips with the back of her hand.

Hikaru focused himself to the situation and shrugged with his palms faced up in the air as if he had no clue of what she's talking about.

"How did you know that I killed her? You're just going to assume-"

"Don't give me that bulls***! You were a parasite! I knew it!" She yelled while pointing at his wing.

Hikaru put his wing back to calm her down but that only made her squint at him.

It would be quicker to kill her but he was currently recruiting so she would make a decent addition if he just invested a bit of time. More importantly, if he killed her, it would look bad in front of Junpei.

He wasn't worried about Hiromi though. She had submitted herself to him in exchange for her life and she probably understood him the most. He could tell she was a fanatical follower. Also, she has a murderous look on her face but was told to stay put earlier.

Hikaru closed his eyes and thought for a moment.

"You're right... I did kill Aimi."

"You bastard!" She was about to charge at Hikaru but what he said next mortified her fighting spirit.

"But I didn't mean to!" Hikaru shouted with a tear budding at the corner of his eyes and gritted his teeth. He then gazed downward.

'It seems effective...' Hikaru smiled within.

Junpei pulled his brows together in a frown.

Junpei was suspicious of Hikaru's drastic change. However, perhaps this is how a person would react when confronted with their greatest sin. Junpei winced from a flashback.

"It was the parasite! I tried fighting it but I lost." He said with his eyes squeezed shut. Prominent lines creased between his eyebrows. "I regret it. If my father was there instead..." His lips began to tremble. "She was a hero..."

"NO!"

Chiho tackled Hikaru to the ground. This time she was successful. She punched him with her injured arm.

"SHE DIDN'T SACRIFICE HERSELF FOR YOU." She shouted into his face and began pummeling him.

*In a beautiful blue pond glittering under the sun, a fish charged at a flying insect hovering in the air from the water. The fished splashed out of the water and into the air with its mouth open. *

Hiromi and Junpei hurried down.

"Get off of him!" Hiromi roared.

"No!" Hikaru looked toward them and spoke. "Don't interfere!"

"But Hikaru!" Hiromi said with a weak voice. She looked like she was angry but also about to cry.

Junpei squinted in confusion. He wasn't sure what Hikaru was up to but this was a chance for him to see Hikaru's true colours.

Chiho was watching them. Seeing that they really didn't move, she continued smashing his face in. Hikaru was sputtering blood every time he got hit.