Hostile Encounter

[Attention, this is an old chapter that no longer holds any relation or meaning to the story. Please read it at your own sake and curiosity, as it will not have any value or meaning to the current plot that is progressing currently. Re-release of this chapter will occur at a later date.]

"Hayate!" The blood-curdling scream of Kurayama echoed throughout the snowy forest.

The young man was breathing heavily as he was chained to the ground. Tears were racing down his cheeks as he stared at the horrifying scenery of Aikawa and Hinotori's mutilated bodies while watching Hayate being eaten alive by a bunch of wild foxes. Her shrieks of pain and agony were striking deep into Kurayama's mind, yet he couldn't do anything due to the chains. He just helplessly watched his wife getting eaten alive.

!"STOP! Let me go!" Kurayama screamed in absolute despair as he saw his wife being ripped apart, her screams growing faint.

The figure that chained Kurayama down to the ground was none other than himself. It was Kurayama covered with dark mist. His eyes were black with red irises. His facial expression was none-existent as if he was dead inside.

"Do you want to be free?" The dark Kurayama asked in a cold and bone-chilling voice.

"Let me GO! She's dying!" Kurayama screamed again as he tried to break free from the chains.

He was growing more desperate as he saw his wife gradually becoming like a corpse after each second. The dark Kurayama stared at her with a look of indifference, not interested in saving her.

"Do you want to save her?" The dark Kurayama asked.

"YES! Let me GO!" Kurayama screamed once again as he tried to break free.

Suddenly, the dark figure flipped Kurayama on his back and stepped on his chest.

"Then…you know what to do." The dark Kurayama said as his dark mist disappeared, revealing a large hole in the heart area.

The entirety of the dark mist started enveloping the dark Kurayama's right index finger. Suddenly, he slowly moved his finger towards Kurayama's forehead.

"No…please no!" Kurayama whispered.

"You have to." The other Kurayama responded as his finger got closer.

"No! I don't want to!"

"There is no other way, you coward." The other Kurayama replied with a cold voice as he poked Kurayama's forehead.

"Please…I don't want to feel pain anymore…I don't want to go back to who I was before…" Kurayama whispered as tears raced down his cheeks.

"If you don't face your greatest fear, you don't deserve to protect who you love." The other Kurayama said as he stood tall and looked down onto Kurayama.

All of a sudden, the other Kurayama started slowly disintegrating as his glare shifted into a look of sadness and sorrow.

"Bear the pain of saving them…Or you'll have to suffer the pain of losing them." He said before he disintegrated into nothing.

------

Kurayama abruptly woke up in a violent manner, gasping for air as he jumped up on his bead. He gripped onto his chest and forehead before he took a deep breath, scanning his surroundings in the process. The panicked look that he had slowly shifted into a face of complete indifference as he took one more breath before standing up from the bed.

"Nightmares again?" Hayate worriedly asked Kurayama.

She was sitting on a stool next to Kurayama's makeshift bed that was made out of a mattress and leveled from the ground by a bunch of concrete blocks.

"Yeah. Sleepless again?" Kurayama replied.

Hayate nodded in response.

"How's Aikawa and Hinotori?" Kurayama asked.

As soon as he asked, Kurayama heard a bunch of groans coming from behind him. Upon turning around, Kurayama saw Aikawa lying down on a mattress that was leveled to the ground. She was groaning and grunting as she rolled around the bed, still asleep.

"She still has nightmares, and her mental condition is getting worse. Also, she still feels a lot of pain in her body, a sharp pain she says." Hayate explained.

Kurayama stared at Aikawa for a few seconds with a look of sympathy before he shifted his gaze towards Hinotori, who was curled up in the corner. He was gazing at the ground with an empty glance.

"He is…improving, but he's still traumatized from…Himself," Hayate stated.

After the incident in Japan, Akira sent the four to an abandoned ghost town in Siberia that was once the property of the "Heroes Government." to assure their safety from any attack or assassination attempt from the Kitsunes.

However, during the past three days, the four started having many mental and physical difficulties due to the encounter with the Kitsunes and the severe cold weather of Siberia.

Aikawa was suffering from sharp pain all over her body. It was caused by the excessive and reckless use of her evolvement coupled with her damaged body on the night of the incident. Her mentality was also going downhill due to that sudden attack. She was afraid of revenge but wanted to kill all of the Kitsunes at the same time, leaving her in an emotionally devastated state of mind.

Hinotori was mentally traumatized and unable to utter a single word after he went on [Fury Mode] to deliver the final attack to the Kitsunes, burning down Kurayama's apartment in the process. He was traumatized by his other self, his angry self. He no longer wanted to use his evolvement, even for heating himself up in this freezing cold weather.

Hayate was too anxious to the point of not sleeping properly for three days in a row, leaving her in a very sleep-deprived state. Despite the amount of protection that they have, Hayate was not comfortable at all. Her fear that the Kitsunes will strike when least expected made her too anxious and afraid to sleep at all.

And lastly, there was Kurayama.

Kurayama was undergoing a severe self-conflict that made him have nightmares for three days in a row. The fear of being too weak was provoking him to unlock his memories and regain his power, but the fear of going back to his old self stopped him from committing to such a rash decision, leaving him in limbo as his two sides fought for who's right.

Kurayama released a shallow sigh before he walked out of the room with Hayate following after him. Kurayama walked towards a dusty and open space. It had some grass growing from the floor, with mold on some of the walls. It was the kitchen.

He opened one of the cabinets and grabbed one of the many canned soups before he sat down on a chair and leaned towards the kitchen counter.

"So much for trying to fix a broken life…Goddammit." He sighed before he opened the soup can and started eating.

"I know it's hard to see any positivity in this…but; I want you to know that you still haven't lost. We are here for you. We are together. We're still alive. You already fixed your life. You have to maintain it."

"I still haven't lost? My apartment, my belongings, my clothes, my license, my bed. I lost everything that I had worked for, everything that I owned. I'm just lucky enough not to have lost my jacket in the fire. But everything else is gone."

Hayate stared at Kurayama with a sad look plastered on her face as he kept eating the soup, tired and disappointed.

"Well, they are still just objects. Objects can be replaced, and I'm sure when this ends, you'll have enough money to buy the biggest and most luxurious apartment in all of Japan—" Hayate tried to comfort Kurayama with a smile on her face before she got interrupted.

"Just objects? Those were the things that marked the start of my new life. Those were the things that I worked hard for; those were the things that still kept me sane when no one was there for me. Do you think buying a luxurious apartment is going to make me feel better? I don't want money and popularity. I just want a peaceful and happy life, and that apartment was the first step towards it…now it's gone."

Hayate stared at Kurayama for a few seconds before she looked down, unable to look him directly in the eyes.

"I'm sorry. I just wanted to help you. I know that our current situation is terrible, but I don't want you to sulk in regret and despair as well. You're the only one who is strong enough to keep us thinking straight right now, so please don't give up on us mid-way." Hayate stated to Kurayama in a profoundly apologetic voice.

"That's my secret, Hayate. I'm always sulking in regret and despair. I wasn't, I'm not, and I don't think that I'll ever be happy. That's just how life wrote my story." Kurayama stated.

Hayate was silent as she stared at the ground with a sad look. She didn't know what to say anymore. She didn't know how to comfort the young man.

"Say, considering that this all happened because you accepted that mission from the HGA…why did you agree to it? Why did you become a hero? Why did you blindly accept it?" Kurayama asked, narrowing his eyes as he stared at Hayate.

Hayate was still staring at the ground, not saying a single thing. She then took a deep breath and opened her mouth to talk.

"Well, I heard your conversation with Hinotori. I heard how you wanted a peaceful life, a family, a few friends, and a stable job. In all honesty, I didn't accept the idea of me being your temporary wife because I thought I was going to be a hindrance, an annoying obstacle in your path for a better life. Furthermore, your financial state was going to become worse if I lived with you, so that was also another thing bothering me.

But, the moment Emilia called you and told you about her offer, I felt salvation. It was the only chance I had to contribute to your life, help you financially, and give you that slight little push towards your path of a better life. The thing that made me blindly accept it was that Emilia said that if I finished the mission successfully, the HGA would give me citizenship, meaning that I would no longer be an obstacle in your life. You would finally be able to start anew with enough money to make you financially stable.

I'm…really sorry, Kurayama. I never thought that it would have turned out like this." Hayate spoke in a soft and apologetic voice, showing how genuinely regretful she was about her decisions.

Kurayama was simply looking at Hayate with a blank facial expression. However, something was stinging him from the inside after he heard Hayate's explanation. He felt bad for her, but he was also unable to brush it off as nothing, considering that her decisions are what caused this terrible situation.

"Listen, Hayate—" Kurayama said before he got interrupted by the loud radio static coming from the pocket of his jacket.

"H4, this is 'Eagle nest.' Is anyone there?! H4, this is 'Eagle nest.' Is anyone there?!" A loud voice called out from the other side of the radio. The voice was followed up by the sounds of heavy breathing and loud groans.

Kurayama quickly picked up the handheld radio from his pocket and answered. "Eagle nest, this is H4. What's the problem?" He said as he tried his best to keep his composure.

"H4, our hero outpost has been destroyed by a violent earthquake! All personnel are either in critical condition, suffering from mild injuries, or buried under the rubble. We are waiting for the aid of all other hero outposts!" The voice exclaimed.

"Eagle nest, stand by. We are coming to aid you—" Kurayama replied before he got interrupted.

"H4, do not come towards us at all costs! This is not an earthquake! I repeat, this is not an earthquake! We have been attacked by an unstoppable force traveling at an excessive speed! Seek shelter inside the nearby forests immediately! I repeat, this is not a situation that any of the hero outposts or you can handle! Seek shelter inside of the nearby forests until the unstoppable force safely passes by! Do not engage in combat at all costs! I repeat, engaging in combat is instant death! Keep your distance from the earthquake, and hide until it's over! Eagle nest, over and out!" The voice said for one last time before the radio went to static again.

Kurayama took a quick glance at Hayate, who was staring at him with a look of absolute shock. Her eyes were wide, and cold sweat was racing down her forehead.

Kurayama quickly shoved the radio back into the pocket of his leather jacket and dashed out of the kitchen towards the room where Aikawa and Hinotori were inside of, with Hayate accompanying him.

"Kurayama, what will we do?!" Hayate exclaimed in a panic. She expected this kind of situation, but the sheer shock she experienced right now made her absolutely clueless about everything that was happening at the moment.

"What do you think?! We'll get Aikawa and Hinotori and get the hell out of this death trap!" Kurayama replied as he entered the room where Aikawa and Hinotori were.

Kurayama made his way towards Aikawa and tried to wake her up, "Aikawa! Oi, Aikawa! Get the hell up! We need to get out of here!" He said as he started shaking the sleeping Aikawa to wake her up, to no avail.

Meanwhile, Hinotori was just staring at the ground with wide eyes. He didn't move, talk, or do anything.

"Fuck it! This is useless. Hayate, carry Aikawa. Quickly!" Kurayama ordered Hayate, which she quickly obeyed as she tried to carry Aikawa on her back.

"Hinotori, buddy, are you still awake? Are you there?" Kurayama said as he delivered some light slaps to Hinotori's face, trying to wake him up.

"Fire…fire…I killed people…with my fire." Hinotori murmured. He was mentally unconscious and unaware of everything happening around him.

Kurayama didn't wait for any response as he quickly picked up Hinotori and carried him on his back.

"It's okay, buddy. It's okay. You're going to be fine. I'm going to take care of you." Kurayama tried to comfort Hinotori as he and Hayate made their way out of the room.

The two dashed as fast as possible through the halls of the rundown building, climbing down the stairs carefully to not trip and fall, and running from room to room before they reached the main door.

Kurayama and Hayate walked towards the snowy street and stood there for a few seconds, searching for a nearby forest. Suddenly, Hayate spotted one.

"There! It's the nearest one. We can get there in a few minutes!" Hayate said as she pointed at the forest.

"No! That forest is in the direction of the coming earthquake. This one is safer!" He stated as he pointed at a farther forest that was far from the line of danger.

The two started dashing at their full speed while tightly holding onto Aikawa and Hinotori, making sure that they won't slip from their hold. They ran through the streets of the ghost town, almost reaching the outskirts of the town…until.

"We're almost there! Watch your surroundings, and beware of anything coming towards—" Kurayama stated before he got interrupted by an insanely powerful shockwave that knocked the wind out of his lungs and launched him and Hayate a few meters back.

The four were lying down on the ground as the dust filled the air and blocked their vision just as the debris and rubble scattered across the street. The buildings nearby were all destroyed in a blink of an eye before anyone could react.

Aikawa was awake and violently coughing as she gasped for air while trying to stand up. Hinotori was sitting down with a look of horror plastered on his face as he stared at the source of the shockwave. Hayate was on her knees, vomiting from the intense shockwave she felt. Meanwhile, Kurayama struggled to stand up as he released groans of pain.

As the smoke started to clear up, a silhouette suddenly appeared and started to become more apparent as the dust continued to fade away. As soon as the dust completely cleared off, the figure was now finally visible.

The man was two meters tall with an extremely muscular body build and veins bulging out from his arms, neck, and forehead. He had a long slicked back black hair with a pair of bloodshot black eyes. He was wearing a black t-shirt, utility boots, and black utility pants.

Upon closer look, the man was emitting steam throughout his entire body. As he exhaled, his breath looked like fumes.

"Oh my God…" Kurayama said, grabbing the attention of everyone to turn around and look at the nightmarish figure in front of them.

The man looked at the four and gave them a death stare with his bloodshot eyes, terrorizing all of them and petrifying them with fear.

"…It's number 5."