Chapter 53 [Kazama vs. Xavier]

Kazama slides down a hill on his way to the battlefield, plenty of thoughts race through his mind, but he felt very sorrowful as he had never seen Xavier to have that insane look of despair on his face, it reminded him of his past. "My life really is nothing but pain." He stops moving and crouches down over a puddle. As he stares at his reflection he starts crying, "Why? Why can't I just live a happy life?" Images of Noya, Tooru, Fukoshi Sensei, Aoi, his countless victims, the man who ran the experiment, they all ran across his mind, almost like a big red arrow pointing to a sign saying 'Maybe if you were a better person this wouldn't have happened!'

He then looked at his hands, scarred, covered in blood, the same story with his body, 'W-why am I fighting anymore?' he thinks, 'I came here as training, but this… This is too far…'. He then got images of his small apartment, he used to think that it was run-down and horrible, but now, he'd give anything to be back there.

But Kazama stands up and wipes away his tears on the cuff of his shirt. After composing himself for a second he continued to walk.

"Where are you going?"

Kazama, on guard, spins around, trying to locate the origin of the voice, which he couldn't find. He summons Odin and notices that he can't cut the space, 'This person is stronger than me?'

"Exactly"

"Who are you!?"

"You want to see me? Okay."

"You're… Me?" Another Kazama stood there, a massive grin on his face. "You're not real!" "Oh… But I so am." The fake Kazama points his finger at the real one's knee, and it explodes, gushing blood. "AGHH! FUCK!" Kazama screams in pain, "You can't be." "Well, who knows?" The fake Kazama splits in half, with the right half turning into Noya, and the Kazama part starts commentating, "Oh, you were so young, so in love… But! One was a Psychopathic Serial Murderer, and the other a former police officer, weird, isn't it? Let's be real, she was the perfect match for you, no one in their right mind would forgive those sins… But poor old Natsuki was too weak, and BOOM! His only chance for love, dead, violated on the floor. Funny right? How all of a sudden you want to start this Yakuza Family, and most of all you can think about is getting stronger, yet you haven't taken your foot off the brakes, you've never ONCE! NOT ONCE! Sat on your own to think your life over!"

"I DID!" Kazama screams between the tears, "THIS FUCKING SCREEN THINGY FORCED IT DOWN MY THROAT!" "THAT'S EXACTLY THE PROBLEM! YOU WERE FORCED TO! YOU DIDN'T DO IT WILLINGLY! And tell me, after you got out of those 5 hours… What was the first thing you did?" Kazama just sits there, crying, "I'M RIGHT, AREN'T I!? YOU DIDN'T THINK THINGS OVER YOU GOT BACK TO FIGHTING! You disgust me! You show no empathy for your victims, you only sit there, pretending to be sad, 'Oh Xavier pweaase swave mwee!'" The fake Kazama then kills the fake Noya with a knife that just appeared in his hands. "THAT! THAT'S WHAT YOUR LIFE LED TO! YOUR SO FUCKING SELF CENTERED, SO EGOTISTICAL! YOU CAN'T UNDERSTAND THE CONCEPT OF EMPATHY! JUST DIE ALREADY!"

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Xavier gets up, "Why can't I sleep!? What the fuck has Kazama gotten into!?" Xavier starts running as best he can to Kazama.

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The fake Kazama holds a knife to Kazama's knife, "I'm going to kill you now, you waste of space!" "Yeah, I should just die." Kazama says, his eyes blank, tears streaming down his face. He looks up to the rainy sky, "Goodbye world, you're probably happy to see me go." The knife presses against his neck, drawing out blood.

…

"WHAT THE HELL!?" Xavier screams, kicking the stick out of Kazama's hand. "Were you going to kill yourself?" Xavier asks, but Kazama just starts crawling towards the sharp stick which he was going to use to slit his throat. He can't go fast because of his knee, Xavier spots a rock covered in blood which Kazama probably used to cave in his own knee. "Die… Die… Die…" Kazama mumbles under his breath.

"HEY! Man!" Xavier grabs Kazama by the collar, he slaps him, "Wake the fuck up!" But Kazama's eyes are still blank, still lifeless. "Kill yourself…" Kazama says under his breath. Xavier punches Kazama to the ground, "Don't even suggest that man!"

…

"WHY NOT!? Why shouldn't I kill myself, huh!? I'm worthless! I have no meaning! Just let me die already!" Kazama screams, "DON'T YOU DARE SUGGEST THAT YOU'LL KILL YOURSELF, THAT IS UNACCEPTABLE!" Xavier screams back. "Just give me the stick, or a knife, or something…" Kazama holds his hand out, "NEVER!" "I will kill you, you know that? You've been nothing but an asset to me." "I'm willing to bet that you won't!"

Kazama flies at Xavier, decking him in the face. Xavier flies into a tree, he spits a tooth out. Xavier runs at Kazama, throwing a couple of kicks, but he is too injured so Kazama can easily dodge them. Kazama summons the Sword of the Lonesome, and lands some slashes on Xavier's chest, leaving him critically injured.

Xavier lay there, on death's door, with Kazama's blade to his neck, and he smirks. "What? One thrust and you can do it, you can kill yourself." Kazama stays there, in that stance for a minute, before he starts shaking, and starts crying again. "Why do I have to kill you to kill myself?" He asks in between tears.

"Because you're special… The only reason you've lived this long, despite your sins, is because you're special. It oozes off you, literally, you're destined for great things Kazama. You know… You're the opposite of worthless, at least to me, you gave me reason to live again, to dream! Day by day, the same routine, I had no clue what I was signing up for back then. I had to abandon my real name, get a more American-English sounding name, weird, huh? I was shackled by the C.I.A, The Government, The Disciples, God's Soldier, The Great Elders, Hana. Not to mention, I had stagnated in strength, since the days I was with the N A C P I had barely gotten any stronger, but you, just about 10ish years my junior improved incredibly fast, you gave meaning to my life. Then you mentioned the idea of being the best Yakuza ever, finally, I had a dream, you gave me that, for that, you're the best friend I've ever had."

"Well… How did you know I wouldn't kill you?" "Because you would never kill someone you call a friend, I know you, maybe old you would, but you are not that person anymore, now you are a great person." "B-But I killed all those people earlier, they were trying to evacuate, I landed and blocked their path so they ran the other way, but I-I saw them trample a child, so I lasered them all…" "Would you do that now?" "I-I don't know… Probably not…" "Yes or no." "No!" "There you go, look at how much you've changed in a single day!" "I'm sorry Xavier!" Kazama hugs Xavier, "Don't be."