An Iron-hearted Fool

I don't know anything about you… I never did. And even with that, I knew that you have a pure and kind heart who wishes to protect those around him.

I loved that about you… and for a long time, I wanted to tell you how precious you are to me.

So why… why are you doing all of this now…?

"Renjiro…"

"I'm sorry, Katsumi… I will tell you everything later when I can finally be fully honest."

I don't understand… why… why are you doing this…?"

"Renjiro!"

"…"

"Come back here!"

You idiot… don't do this to me…

"I said come back here and face me who gave you your name!"

"-!"

Are you making that lousy excuse again? Are you testing my patience by telling me that you won't listen because that is just the name that I gave to you back then?

"Renjiro… Stop doing this. Your face and how it curls up in pain whenever you move already made all of it clear to me. You're terribly sick, aren't you?"

"…"

"Answer me, damn it!"

"Yes! I am ill! Does that answer your question?!"

"-!"

Renjiro never shouted at me like this ever before.

"I… I can feel it every day. My blood feels like is fire coursing inside my body… My skin and flesh hurts as if it's being flayed and pulled off constantly… and my brain is receiving all of this pain to the point that I would collapse every hour."

"Renjiro… why did you hide this from me-"

"Because I know exactly what you would do once you learn this!"

"T-Then you should know that I will be by your side until you are cured! Why are you so keen on pushing me away and-"

"You should find someone else to care for, Katsumi… even I have no more hope about my situation. Don't waste your time and effort on me."

"You-!"

"Stop pretending that you care about me already!"

"Ahh-!!!"

"I already know it… So please, stop acting like things will ever come back to how it was back then…"

Back then… Is he talking about that? But how did he-

"I've always known… I just pretended that I didn't. All this time… you cared for me just because you are trying to make amends with your own self."

"I-I wasn't! It's true that I saw him through you and that was the reason why I befriended you, but I eventually gained closure from his death and saw you as who you are. I no longer-"

"I hate you, Katsumi-nee."

"-!!!"

"…See? Even though you're reasoning to me like that, the shock of hearing those words from someone that you have always used to substitute for little Jirou that you left to die, hurts you deeper than anything else."

"I… I…"

"We're done here, Katsumi…"

As Renjiro took great effort to stand up and limped towards the door, I found myself instinctively reaching out to him, but that is the moment that I realized that I really am seeing my departed little brother whenever I look at him.

"Renjiro… I'm sorry…"

As tears welled up on my eyes from a mixed sense of being ashamed and angry on my own self, Renjiro told me one last thing before he left me alone.

"You can apologize as much as you want once I return… Only then will you hear anything from me again."

I didn't understand anything about what he just said, but after that very day, I realized that even if he would hate me forever, I should've stopped him before he got away.

Because the tightly kept secret of Renjiro… was something that I have long suspected but was never able to confirm before.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

{"Your meal for tonight is Hamburg steak with creamy macaroni soup. Enjoy."}

As I walked from my bed and towards the small hatch where I received my meals, I began to wonder about how many days has it been since that day.

"Cold food again. They're really trying to break me with these small inconveniences since they can't torture me. Haah… they really are petty."

The same day that Father was revived and was seemingly killed again, I was also caught by the S.S.S and held in his prison in the middle of nowhere.

I could've easily escaped from here if not for the Diminisher cuffs placed on my wrists and the fact that a vial of poison will be injected straight into my body by the same cuffs if I try to do anything suspicious.

My prison cell was quite spacious for a lone prisoner. I have bed that is very comfortable, a small living room area where I have a couch, a low table and a TV set that only plays anime and movies. There is also a small cubicle that acts both as a toilet and a bathroom, although for obvious security purposes, it was covered with a clear glass wall.

Thankfully, the S.S.S was decent enough to guarantee me that the guards who are watching over me are women. I don't really have qualms about someone peeping on me, but even though I may not look like it, I am still a young woman who gets insecure about… little things.

(TN: Author Rai said that Himari might be the big sister among the three, but she's not a BIG sister. Don't worry girl, flat is justice.)

Life here is quite boring, and even though they complied with my request to have some manga and novels be brought here regularly in exchange for telling them about the plan to assassinate the Amano Hogosha guardian of Okinawa, something that I knew was already too late to be stopped, I eventually reached a point where I understood why Keiji keeps on handing himself over to the S.S.S, only to escape out later.

"Haah… booooorrrriiiiing… I was quite amused about staying here for a while because I knew that things would move in the right direction so long as Father is with those two but staying here is beginning to be more like a punishment rather than the vacation that I thought of it to be."

Oh yeah, I almost forgot that making the prisoner be so bored that they'd want to get out is basically the purpose of imprisonment. I was looking down on this so much that I've forgotten about that.

"Huh? This feeling is…"

{"Ms. Miyazono Himari, you have a visitor. Kindly bring a chair near the door to meet with your guest."}

"Why don't you just let me take them in like what a proper host should do for their visitor?"

{"Stop asking for the obviously absurd, Ms. Miyazono. Take your chair and sit on it at the stated place of your room."}

"Alright, alright… have it your way."

I took one of the monobloc chairs from one side of the room and dragged it towards the wall beside the locked door of my jail cell. It was at this moment that the small part of the wall that is basically a giant one-way mirror from the outside, cleared up to show a slightly injured young man who has become ever-so familiar to me.

"My, my… This is quite the abrupt visit, foreigner Psychic S.S.S Agent."

"Indeed, it is… But I don't see any reason for me to try next time and postpone this meeting that we can actually hold this time..."

"Well, you are right… Now then, I believe you wouldn't scurry to my cell tonight if you don't have something important to ask me about. Let me hear it, then."

I expected him to ask me something about our next moves just like how the Department Chief of the S.S.S who is obsessed with gathering information and hiding his activities from the others, but I was surprised after learning what it was that he wanted to ask me about.

"How have you been doing here so far? It's been three months since we fought, and you were brought here as a captive after I defeated you. I was wondering if you're starting to get bored with just staying in here."

"You're… asking me if I am alright?"

"Yeah."

"Is this some kind of coded message that means "you'll be executed soon" or "we've finally decided to torture you"?"

"Nope. It's an honest question from me. I was wondering if you are doing alright here, and I thought about dropping by since I am nearby."

"Nearby, huh? You sure are dropping in clues for me about where this secret prison facility is located."

"Well, it's not like you know or can even deduce why I am here for. I may be covered in bandages, but for all you know, I could've just come here like this to throw your speculations off."

"…Heh. Hehehe… What a sly enemy you are."

I chuckled lightly for a while after realizing that I threw away my upper hand in this, by biting his bait for me. It was after I recomposed myself that I answered his question about my well-being casually.

"To be honest, I've been bored for a long time ever since I got here. There's a TV that shows nothing but anime and movies which amused me for a while since I never had the time to watch those things while I was busy running the corporation. I particularly liked the old ones that came before the war. There are those that stood out from the other ones that had almost the same kind of plot and character tropes."

(TN: I'm dead. Himari is roasting the Isekai shows in our present time.)

"Oh. They're running the regular channel set on you. That's quite lucky, you know? The other channel sets are either periodic dramas or adult-oriented soap operas. The latter is the cruelest since it becomes addictive once you get into one."

"Ahaha! Is that so? I can understand why it's like that. Whoever writes those shows sure knows how to make it work like an addictive drug."

"They sure do… How about your mangas and light novels? I heard that you made a deal with Chief Ayato that at least lowered the fallout of Guardian Naganohara's death."

"Well, if I am going to be honest, I got hooked on some of the anime shows that never got another season. I was bored with the ones that they used to replace the shows that I already finished, so I calculated the days since I got here and thought that I can make a deal without harming our agendas. Thankfully, it seems like everything went according to plan and I still got what I want out of it."

"You're calling me sly when you're the worse one at it."

"I'll take that as a compliment, thank you very much."

"Sure, sure… Take it as you wish."

While I am still heckling about how I tricked them and they can't do anything about it, I noticed that for a moment, his expression changed, and I realized that there really is something that he is hiding within our conversation."

"Oi. I thought we're here to just talk and not screw over each other."

"…"

"You damn bastard. What are you here for after all?"

I may not look like it because I prioritize being logically level-headed and polite when the one that I am talking to isn't really being rude, but I will show my unbridled anger if I catch even a clue that I am not being showed any appropriate cordiality.

As I activated my Psychic form, I can feel the Diminisher cuffs sucking out and dissipating my Astra energy, but after I poured into it a sustained stream of Astra energy, it slowly began to creak and make ticking sounds.

{"V-V-Vice Chief Chronia! Leave the facility now! We can't have you there once we subdue her!"}

"…Don't press it."

{"S-Sir?"}

"There's no need to inject the poison and make her blow this place up along with herself. I can de-escalate this by myself."

"Hoh? You sure are cocky after being able to catch me when I am already drained of Astra energy and tired from several fights. You just got lucky back then and I'm sure your Spirit also lent you his immense power. But right now, I can beat you even without using my powers fully and walk out of here if I want to."

"Will you be able to say those same words after I tell you what I really am here for?"

"Indulge my curiosity… Although I'm sure that it would just be some pitiful drivel that you'd babble about just to save your skin."

"Well then…"

What he said while I am ready to overload my own body with Astra energy and demolish this entire place is something that made me immediately calm myself down and sink into my chair in a mixed sense of powerlessness and shock.

"Father… did that…?"

"Our inside informants all independently gave out this news a while ago… and just recently, the public got their confirmation from news reports and newspapers."

"Hehe… You're lying… Hahaha! You're just lying! Father, no, everyone can't possibly do that to me! I am still alive here! Someone within your agency should be a spy and reported that I am still alive down here!"

"…"

"They can't replace me anyway! The only copy of my consciousness and memories are right here! They could never-"

"…Here's the proof."

"W-W-Wha…"

"I wanted to ask you how you are doing before I broke this to you… because I know that after learning this cruel truth, you'd have no one to turn to afterwards."

He cut it out from the rest of the newspaper to stop me from getting any other information from the outside. But the large image of father and us three was on the cut-out along with its associated news coverage. He stuck it on the glass using a tape before continuing with what he is saying.

"From what we gathered from the inside, Miyazono Ryuichi has given up on the prospect of saving you after he failed to locate this facility and we purged out the insiders that you planted in the S.S.S. Your two siblings insisted that you should be saved, Keiji even said that you are surely alive since the S.S.S wouldn't dare to lay a finger on such an important hostage… but it was quickly shot down by your father who said that he'll handle all of it by himself."

"How…?"

"It's not yet confirmed, but we suspect that the Replicants of your family butler wasn't just left to take care of you three and facilitate your regular changing of bodies, but also make sure that a nearest possible back-up of your consciousness and memories is available if ever you die somewhere that they can't reach you or cases like this where you get caught by the enemy."

"…"

"Your father sure is a careful man. He is ready to throw even his own child away if it will further his goals in the end."

"No… Kih-! I don't want to believe it… Hik-!"

After hearing that and knowing that it cannot possibly be a lie, I fell down on my knees as I clutched my chest that was in pain. I shook as tears welled up on my eyes and felt powerless against what was just revealed to me.

"What now…?"

"…"

"Since you've been made aware of this, what do you plan to do now?"

It made me happy to know that Aishi and Keiji at least wanted to find and save me, but the fact that I was Replicated, and they seem to have accepted it since father ordered them to do so broke my heart.

"I…"

"…"

"I want to think about it for a while… please… give me some time and more information about the outside world."

"Do you think that the others would let you have that time and knowledge? Now that we have leverage over you who has been abandoned and is now useless as a bargaining chip, do you really think that the kindness that we have given you all this time will remain?"

"That…"

He's right. Because of what we did to destabilize them, the S.S.S is sure to drag me out and torture me immediately to get as much information from me… worse, they can hand me to the Imamura clan who would study my brain and body in order to obtain weapons or techniques that can defeat us.

"I know that this is presumptuous of me… especially now that, just as you said, I have no more value as a hostage. But please…"

"…"

"Buy me some time and let me know about what's happening outside… you are right, I have no one else to turn to anymore. So please…"

Father betrayed me… but the over thirty years of ceaseless devotion that I had for him can't be erased from my mind and artificial consciousness that easily.

I still believe that we were in the right. I am still devoted to Spirit Freedom's tenets that father also follows to the dot… these are things that I will not turn my back to, no matter what my broken heart and betrayed self speaks to me.

But with us three of his children and he himself now back to health, I fear that what we have been planning after we get reunited would soon come to pass… and because I was the only one who knows about how it would spectacularly massacre unnumbered counts of people if not done right, I want to know first if telling the S.S.S all about this would at least spare the innocent people.

"You don't have to bow your head to ask me for that. I told you already, I came here prepared to be very considerate of your present situation. We may have been after each other's necks for a long time, but you are still someone that I see as an equal."

"You…"

"So… how much time and resources do you need to do the guesswork of whether to give us a clue on what your father and his henchmen would be doing or not?"

This guy… why does he sound like he has already knew what's going on in my mind all this time?

"Three days… and the newspapers from the time I got imprisoned here to the day when I will tell you about it."

"Alright. I'll be back after a while."

"W-Wait!"

"…"

He's getting stranger and stranger to the point that it's beginning to scare me. Why did he accept my request without making counteroffers or restrictions? Does he… trust me and my word that much?

"Why… are you willingly helping me? Won't your higher-ups be concerned that you're seemingly siding with me?"

"…Like you, I love my family deeply and I am prepared to do what I must do to protect them."

"That…"

"I sensed it when we last fought… being devoured by rage after you and your men made me kill the person that I promised to protect, I had nothing on my mind but to return the favor to you first and then, to everyone with you."

Is he talking about the girl that was possessed by the pseudo-spirit that we made? I heard that he managed to kill her Vessel and return the pseudo-spirit to the Replicant body… maybe his rage back then really was that powerful.

"It was only after I was stopped and I woke up in a recovery room that I realized that you didn't do that for no reason, you did it to ensure that your plans will never be stopped and what you wanted to do will come to pass."

He's right. The pseudo-spirit might've been stolen from us by them, but we still controlled her. And when she was brought there, I made her possess someone that was close to him so that he would have a hard time accepting that he needs to kill her.

"You love your family, and you are prepared to sacrifice any number of people to make sure that they will stay alive. Because of that, I realized that with your current circumstance of being imprisoned here and being betrayed by the very family that you have saved endless of times, you would eventually realize that I am the only person you can depend on to have a chance of meeting them one last time."

"One last time… You can't mean-!"

"We are still enemies, Himari. I did say that I am being very considerate with you because of your current situation, but you are the reason why I had to kill Kaori-chan… and you have done innumerable sins that you can never repay even if you spend the rest of your lifetime in that deteriorating Replicated body just to atone for it."

"…"

"What's done is done. So instead, I'll do what I must do to at least curb the damage that your family will incur upon the innocent ones in this world. That's why if you want to meet them in that prison cell instead of simply hearing from me or reading about their demise in a newspaper, you will cooperate with me and help me detain them instead of making me kill them."

"How can you be so sure that you'll be able to put them down? You have fought them once already and if I am right, they have made countermeasures against you already in their new Replicant bodies. Are you still sure that you'll overpower them?"

"Well… I wonder too."

"-!!!"

"I wonder what will break first… my control over my power… or their very existence, once we meet in the battlefield?"

This power… this dense and pure stream of Astra energy…!

"Be a good girl and stay put in here while twiddling your thumbs about giving me what I want, Himari… because if you don't, and I am forced to clean up their mess again…"

"Hiii-!!!"

"Trust me, I will make them face the kind of fate that they will beg for the Seers of Death to just take them to hell."

After leaving me with those words, Ephraim left the place and I was left there, utterly terrified of what I have just witnessed.

"I asked for three days… but if he's ready to do all of this…"

Terror filled my heart after learning of the possibility that I may no longer see my siblings again if I dilly-dally here.

"I need to… save Keiji and Aishi!"

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

You thick-headed, pain in the ass of an old man.

"Get out of my way, Kai…"

"I don't wanna."

You go on and on about us not listening to anything that you say, but how many times have I seen you doing exactly the opposite of what you are teaching?

"I have to finish him once and for all… I will… do what I should do!"

"The only one you're finishing with that stupendously weak body of yours is your own self…"

"Kh! I have no time to react to your pestering! Get out of my… way!"

I know it already, damn it… You're a Replicant too and your body is beginning to degrade. Add to that the fact that you're suffering from Hyper-psychic syndrome, there's no way that you'll defeat William with your current state… and besides…

"The S.S.S Chief that you secretly met was fed bad intel."

"W-what!?"

"We already knew that you've been making deals with him, and we made moves one step ahead of you. The place that he gave is a total dud. That was a Miyazono lab, yes. But it's no longer operational."

"And why should I trust you?! You could be lying right now for all I know!"

"Then why don't you ask yourself that? Are you seriously going to the Miyazono laboratory in Tateyama, Chiba? The exact same place where we once fought against a Miyazono gardener candidate, and we destroyed the entire place afterwards?"

"That-!"

"See? Even your memories are failing you now."

I once deeply respected you as someone that was clearly stronger than me… and I had a strange sense of connection to you as someone who took on the responsibility of killing me once the real Imamura Kai gets out of his statis chamber.

But now, that man who doesn't fear death and is prepared to kill if it meant protecting the organization and those dear to him is nowhere to be seen…

"Tch! Darn it, back to square one again…"

"…"

"I don't have time… I am getting weaker. I have to find that guy, kill him and be an Amano Hogosha guardian soon."

"Why?"

"Are you dumb?! Isn't it obvious already since you said it yourself?! I am dying!"

"And what of it?"

"What of it?! You really are an idiot! I don't want to die, obviously!"

"You once faced death nonchalantly before… Why are you fearing it now?"

"Stop wasting my time with your useless questions! Get the hell out of my way!"

I see… You don't even need to say it…

Back then, in the prime of your strength, you faced every danger and defied death numerous times because you have absolute trust on yourself, and the body provided to you that you will never fall on death's scythe.

But now… now that you're so weak that you can barely walk straight or not gnash your teeth in pain, you fear death so much that it haunts your ceaselessly and you are prepared to do everything just to escape from its clutches.

"I'm disappointed with you, Furuta-sensei."

"What did you just say!? Take that back!"

"I meant what I said. I am disappointed with you… so much so that I can barely look at you with any shred of respect."

"WHY YOU-!"

*Fying-! TWIII-!*

"Stop already!"

*Tyag-!*

He took out and raised his sword above his head, doing the classic opening technique of the Imamura Iai-jutsu style. Normally, this would cut off the head of anyone that it gets to catch on its blade… but with his weakened state that made him lumber around to even just draw it out of its sheath, I easily dodged it and slapped the sword out of his hold.

"Khh-!"

"Stop already… I can't… no, we can't endure to see you like this anymore!"

"Then stop meddling with me!"

"You idiot! Have you forgotten what the Sumeragi group stands for and promises to each other!?"

"Kh-!"

"When you are inducted to the group, you swear loyalty to your fellows and the principles that we all are ought to follow! You don't turn your back on any of them! Ever!"

My throat was aching, and my breathing was ragged after I shouted all of that towards him. He used to pound all of this to me when I was younger, wanting to impart to me the virtues that the Sumeragi syndicate swears onto… and yet, I am the one reminding him about all of this now.

"Well then… kill me."

"…"

"End my suffering, Kai. The promise that I made with you, turn it on me. Instead of me disposing you, dispose me."

"That's not what he agreed on-"

"I said do it! End me now before I succumb to this horrible illness!"

"…"

Till the very end, you really are a pain in the ass.

"You promised to father on his deathbed… that you will wield his sword to lop off the head of William, didn't you?"

"-!"

"I promised to him back then too… that I will avenge him. To him and to Kaede-nee… I made promises like that to them."

"What are you-"

"Lucas-san took it a step further and made an oath to hunt him down and kill him… he even went against his religion's leaders' orders and joined the Sumeragi group as a Kanbu officer just to get nearer to that goal."

I am amazed of how many people promised to one day put him down in the name of vengeance or a sense of responsibility. As someone who so desperately clung to his goal of one day becoming the strongest in the world of Psychics, William is an opponent that deserves that much attention to be put down.

"Just what are you trying to say, you brat?"

"…"

It's clear to me that you are afraid of death… but unlike those who has that fear because they cannot accept death itself, you are different.

"Maeda-san… you love her, don't you?"

"…"

"But you know that no matter how much you love her, it will be a futile and fruitless love… because as a Replicant that was deemed as a failure, you will die sooner than she will and leave her in this unforgiving world where anyone, whether they are involved with Psychics or not, will be a casualty in the incoming clash between our sides."

It's obvious to even me, damn it… You love her and you want to be by her side. But at the same time, you are cursed with the knowledge that the clash between our forces will come soon and even normal people will be involved and most likely die.

"I heard from Rai-kun that the night when he had his Awakening, he shouted a curse towards this world that has treated him so unfairly. He hated the world… but he is now protecting it because those that is dear to him is still in it."

"What's your point, then? Are you bringing up Ephraim just because he will somehow convince me to give up and rot away somewhere in the estate?"

"No… quite the opposite."

"Huh?"

I knelt on my knee and hoisted one of his arms across my shoulders, helping him up to his feet.

"What are you…?"

"If you want to kill William, let's do it together."

"Huh?!"

"You can have the recognition for it all to yourself. I don't need nor have the capacity to replace old man Naganohara as an Amano Guardian anyway."

If this will somehow save you or let you settle your unfinished business before you go… I'll lend you my help."

"Why do this, brat…?"

"…"

"You have… no reason at all to help me out like this after everything that we've been through."

"…"

"I was harsh on you… I put you down whenever you're being enthusiastic about something, and I even regularly reminded you that doing all of these flashy things will be meaningless once we get the real you out of his statis chamber."

He's right with that… he did make me face reality a lot of times before.

However, I didn't take any of it as an insult or something to be insulted about. To me, it was reality. It was something that I have to be regularly reminded of in order for me to not make troubles with the real Kai to deal with once he wakes up.

"You're right… you're an annoying pain in the ass who always does those things… but somehow, I sensed that those words are double-edged and isn't solely pointed at me."

"You…"

"It didn't make sense until I discovered that you are a Replicant too… and all of your words finally seemed to not just be directed to me but also to yourself."

"…"

As we limped towards a car waiting on the alleyway where I told my driver to hide out for a moment, I told him something that he didn't expect to hear from her.

"Mother said that she didn't save you from the Aokigaharas for you to just barge into a Miyazono stronghold and die a meaningless death."

"Kirin-san…"

"Mother said that if you do get to kill William this time, she'll let you leave the group and retire. "Go marry that girl and leave this chaotic place behind" she says…"

"I see…"

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Kirin-san… she really is still looking out for me.

"Are you fine back there?"

"Yeah. Go on."

"Mm. Come on, we don't have time to waste."

"Yes, Kai-bochama."

As he made me lie down at the backseat of the car and we left for the right hideout where William is supposedly being kept, I can't help but feel a little bit sad about one day being the one lectured and lugged around by my student.

But I realized that if the matured this quickly, I have nothing more to fear about one day leaving them behind… they've learned a lot from me. That's something that I should be relieved and take pride on.