Chapter 13: The One Who Was Bound by Blood

Piku's eyes bore into me with a hatred I'd never seen before. It wasn't just anger—it was raw, unfiltered rage. I opened my mouth to speak, to explain, to apologize, but the words died on my tongue. My throat felt parched, each beat of my heart loud and erratic as if it, too, feared what might happen next.

"You did this, Takeru," Piku whispered, his voice barely audible, but laced with venom. "All this pain, all this suffering… it's because of you."

I took another step back, my legs trembling. "Piku… I didn't… I mean, I know things are wrong between us, but… I didn't do this."

He let out a bitter laugh, one that sounded more like a snarl. "You think I don't know? Don't pretend, Takeru. I've felt it. Every time you've looked at me with that twisted envy, that silent resentment. I was your friend, but you never saw me as anything but an obstacle, something you wanted to crush."

My hands began to shake. I couldn't deny the envy—I had felt it for so long, a gnawing bitterness that I could never fully suppress. But hearing it laid bare like this, with Piku's words dripping with loathing, was unbearable.

"I…" My voice wavered. "I never meant for it to be like this. I just… I didn't know how to handle it. But I never wanted to hurt you, Piku."

He laughed again, a sound devoid of any warmth, any hint of the Piku I once knew. "Save your excuses," he spat. "You're nothing but a coward, Takeru. You hide behind your guilt, your self-pity, pretending you're some tragic hero. But in reality? You're just as twisted as the rest of us."

The shadows in the room seemed to thicken, pressing in around us, suffocating, and I felt myself being pulled deeper into this dark, fractured reality. Each word Piku hurled at me weighed down on me, sinking me into a guilt that felt all too real.

"What happened to you, Piku?" I asked, my voice barely a whisper. "Why… why do you hate me so much?"

He sneered, his eyes flashing. "Isn't it obvious? You abandoned me, left me to rot while you wallowed in your own misery. You think you're suffering? You don't know what it's like to be discarded, to be betrayed by the one person you thought would always be there."

His words struck a nerve, memories flashing in my mind of the countless times I had pushed him away, distanced myself out of jealousy, bitterness. I had convinced myself it was for his own good, that he didn't need to be burdened by my darkness. But maybe… maybe I had just been too afraid to face him, to confront the resentment festering inside me.

"I'm sorry, Piku," I whispered, my voice choked with emotion. "I never meant to make you feel like that. I thought… I thought I was protecting you."

"Protecting me?" His laugh was sharp, cutting through me like a blade. "You were protecting yourself. You pushed me away because you couldn't handle the truth—that you hated me as much as you needed me."

The shadows seemed to twist and contort, each word drawing me further into a darkness that felt both familiar and foreign. I tried to push back, to find some solid ground, but it felt like I was slipping, sinking into a chasm of guilt and regret.

"You can't run from this, Takeru," Piku's voice echoed, growing distorted, like he was speaking from every corner of the room. "You think facing your anger is enough? You have to face the consequences. You have to live with the destruction you caused."

The room shifted again, and suddenly I was no longer standing in the quiet space, but in a place of chaos—a field strewn with broken memories, each one a moment I had buried deep. Images flickered around me: the rooftop where I had killed Piku countless times, the moments I had turned my back on him, the fragments of every choice I had made to keep him at a distance.

I stumbled back, each image tearing through me like a blade, leaving me gasping for breath. This wasn't just wrath—this was retribution, a punishment for every sin I had tried to ignore.

And in the center of it all stood Piku, his expression a mask of contempt, his eyes a reflection of every dark thought I had ever harbored.

"Why?" I managed to choke out. "Why are you doing this?"

He stepped closer, his voice low and filled with an almost gleeful malice. "Because you deserve it, Takeru. You deserve every ounce of pain, every moment of suffering. This… this is justice."

I wanted to scream, to fight back, but a part of me felt paralyzed, as if I was tethered to this nightmare by chains I couldn't see. Every time I tried to move, to push back against the weight of his words, it felt like the darkness only grew stronger, feeding off my fear, my guilt.

But then, a memory flickered in my mind—something the mysterious girl had said. You'll stay trapped as long as you keep running from your truth.

My truth. I clenched my fists, a spark of determination cutting through the haze of despair. This wasn't real—not entirely. This was another test, another reflection of my own darkness. And if I was ever going to escape, I had to face it head-on.

I took a shaky breath, forcing myself to meet Piku's gaze, even as his eyes bore into me with unrelenting hatred. "Maybe… maybe I did make mistakes," I said, my voice trembling but steady. "Maybe I let my envy and anger control me. But that doesn't mean I have to keep letting it define me."

Piku's expression faltered for a split second, a flicker of surprise crossing his face before it was replaced by cold fury. "You think you can just walk away from this? From me?"

"No," I replied, my voice growing stronger. "But I can choose to be better. I can choose to face the parts of myself that I've tried to ignore. And that means facing you, too."

His snarl deepened, his figure wavering as if struggling to hold its shape. The shadows around us twisted, the air thickening with a palpable rage, but I forced myself to stand my ground.

"You don't control me anymore," I said, each word a battle, but one I was determined to win. "I control my own fate. Not you, not my anger, and not my guilt."

The darkness writhed, pulsing like a living thing, and for a moment, it felt like the entire world was collapsing in on itself. But I held onto that spark of defiance, that small flame of hope that had kept me moving forward, even in the bleakest moments.

Slowly, the shadows began to recede, the images fading until there was nothing left but silence.

---

When the world settled once more, I was standing alone in an empty room, my breaths coming in ragged gasps as the weight of the encounter lifted, leaving me feeling strangely hollow, yet lighter.

I glanced around, half-expecting to see Piku again, but there was nothing. Just the quiet, the stillness, and the faint echo of my own heartbeat.

But as I took a step forward, the familiar chill returned, prickling at the edges of my mind. I could sense it—another reality waiting just beyond my reach, another twisted version of the world I had left behind.

I closed my eyes, bracing myself for whatever lay ahead, and when I opened them, I was somewhere new. The walls around me were scorched, the air thick with the stench of burnt metal and dust.

And in the center of the room, standing amidst the debris, was a version of myself that I barely recognized—eyes blazing with a fury that seemed boundless, his hands clenched into fists, his posture rigid, ready to destroy anything or anyone in his way.

This was the reality of wrath.

And this time, there was no one left to blame but myself.