Chapter 9

Kousuke's eyes took in the size of the final NothingBeast that stood in his way. It was as tall as the roof with sharp shadow-like fangs and long claws. It held a weapon that looked strangely like a sword and Kousuke grinned.

"So that's how you see it, Mr Grant?" He asked while imagining the sword he inherited from the family Kendo line. The TMS knife slowly formed into it onto his belt and he drew the blade. "Let's end this with honour."

The NothingBeast pointed the edge of its blade at Kousuke while standing in a bent stance. It held no sign of hesitation and Kousuke could feel Henry's steel determination to end his life. 'This is not a joke, Kousuke. If you lose here, he'll destroy our last chance to save the world. You have to win!' He steadied his arms in front of him and held the blade upwards, keeping his eyes unwavering from his enemies'. A bead of sweat slipped down his cheek as all sound and surrounding conflict left his mind.

It all happened in a rush. They both took off, met in the middle with their blades clashing. The weight and size were definitely not on Kousuke's side but he steeled his imagination in winning. 'I have to do this, for Zuriana!'

As they fought like mad, Zuriana slowly stirred awake once more. She couldn't ignore the booming of the loudspeakers from Hong Gil's side and a dumb grin appeared over her lips. 'I swear, the vibrations are going to make me sick… I'm never going to a live concert after this.'

She slowly forced her mind to stuff cotton buds into her ears, drowning the sound away. She focused her eyes on Kousuke's battle and her jaw dropped in amazement. It was like watching a live-action samurai movie, as the blades hit each other with a clang of metal against metal. Her pupils widen to see his feet getting pushed back at the disadvantage of the NothingBeasts' weight class. 'He's going to lose! No! Then he-'

Her mind was about to wander to his death of beheading but she shook it away immediately. 'He's going to win, cause he has me!' She looked at the fight carefully, searching for any opening she could use. 'There has to be a blind spot somewhere!' She suddenly caught sight of Henry's body jerking around and an idea hit her hard.

She focused her gaze on the ceiling and she tried her best to imagine even a small image of rock falling onto Henry. Once it rippled into sight, the NothingBeast swung his gaze to his leader, leaving him wide open. With the last ounce of strength, she screamed out, "FINISH HIM, KOUSUKE!"

The sound of her calling him by his first name woke his spirit and he lunged forward, stabbing the NothingBeast in its abdomen. The sword hit deep, completely turning it to dust. Kousuke turned to face Zuriana but she was staring at him intensively. 'I should just finish things now,' he thought before turning his weapon back into the pocket-sized specialized knife.

He approached the mastermind and a wave of regret hit him suddenly. He was so caught off guard, he fell to his knees and clenched his aching head. It felt like needles were continuously stabbing his brain and all his imagination drained him, leaving him empty and in pain. 'Will I die like this? Like what happened five years ago?'

His mind recalled what happened when he was fifteen. He had returned home, in search of his family to tell them the news of achieving a black belt in his kendo team. Instead, he faced two robbers who stood over his family. His pupils shrunk at the sight of his family brutally butchered. The robbers growled at the sight of Kousuke and pulled out a gun to finish him. But rage had already taken over his mind and he didn't hesitate in grabbing the fallen sword of his families' lineage and he swung his arm, slicing the robbers' arm off cleanly.

The second robber gasped at his sudden attack and screamed in unison with her companion who was on his knees. She pulled her gun out and trembled with the trigger, shaking her aim at him. "Don't you dare come any closer!" But Kousuke had nothing to lose and took a quick step forward and sliced her chest in an arch. She cried in pain and let out a shot, hitting the kitchen gas can.

The place was soon on fire and people around the apartment hurried to the Tachibana apartment room to help extinguish the fire. The robbers ripped off their masks to get air and revealed themselves to be his neighbours. That was when the door came off its hinges and the other residents couldn't believe their eyes. The sight of Kousuke standing over the two residents and his bloody family with a sword in hand made fear spread and they immediately began screaming to get away and call the authorities. Kousuke couldn't believe what had happened next.

The owner of the apartment had grabbed a kitchen knife to fight back and in self-defence, Kousuke lifted his blade to scare him back. But the man had tripped over the doorframe, falling straight for his sword. The others gasped at the incident and they ran away, leaving Kousuke in the fire staring at his bloody hands.

"N-No way… I didn't want any of this to happen…" He looked at his sisters' hung body and dropped his sword before staggering towards her. "Ai… W-Wake up… I'm dreaming, right? Y-You and mom…"

As reality stung him with fire engulfing his back, a laugh left his lips. He couldn't help but laugh at God's work. 'This really is funny…' He walked towards his balcony and opened it, revealing himself to the crowd and police before laughing out loud.

The memories caused tears to fill his mind and sorrow rush through his body. 'There's no use living, right?' He dropped the knife and felt his entire limps droop. 'Y-Yeah… I have nobody to return to, right?'

The others finally joined them in the room and all together to call out, "KOUSUKE!" which brought him back to reality. He lifted his head and saw them all standing by Zuriana's side. They had managed to pull her out and Petra and Fleur held her up.

Blood dripped down her lips but she was determinedly staying awake, fighting the pain to support Kousuke. It was clear they were injured at the moment, blood-stained clothes and wincing at every small movement. But they needed to send him a message that soon became clear to him. 'You aren't alone! We are here for you!'

Everything seemed so clear to Kousuke now. He lifted his head and snatched the knife from the floor before struggling to his feet. His legs felt like thin nimble pins, holding up his weight with everything he had left. He pushed himself towards the evil mastermind and pushed away from the evil whispers that invaded his mind.

"It won't work, Mr Grant," he muttered, filling in the silence between him and everyone else in the room. "You won't be able to make me go against them or try to give in. Right now, I don't have any reason to fall. I have my friends backing me up and I won't ever betray them."

He reached out and grabbed the multiple wires that connected his mind with surrounding old TMS modals. Kousuke lifted the knife and placed them around it before tugging. The wires were sliced cleanly, disconnecting it all and the fallen NothingBeasts began disappearing from their line of sight. The unconscious man slowly stirred awake, taking in the blinding light above him, and realized it was cold. When he sat up with a fuzzy mind, it took him a whole minute to understand the spotlight on him and the cold breeze.

"Did you six really have to destroy my entire rooftop? What if it were to rain?" Questioned the man with a dumb smile before lifting up his wrists in defeat.

They shared glances before nodding and Lewis did the honours by cuffing him with 'IKEA'-made cuffs. They walked side-by-side back outside, ready to face the world with good news.