Yuki ched his fists together, feeling his nails digging into the skin. “To hell with your world!” It was no pce for him to be any longer. He thought it would be different, but it was the same. Everything ged too mud became dark.

  What few people that could stand in Hiroshi’s group moved to block Yuki’s path out. He couldn’t allow him to leave, the risk was too great. It was a mistake he granted due to mispced se. No more could be made. “Where do you think yoing?”

  “To pay my respects to a friend I lost.” Yuki gred over at Hiroshi, almost taunting him. He khe situation just as well as Hiroshi. Yet the guards remained in his way. “Do you really think you stop me?”

  “You wouldn’t fight your way out of here.”

  “I don’t o fight. You’ll let me walk.”

  The fidehat permeated from Yuki unnerved Hiroshi. He knew what Yuki was capable of doier than any of the others in his group. They would do whatever he told them. They would charge in against Yuki, someohat they would all easily uimate. ‘That power of his…I don’t know if it is on or ht now. I don’t know if he already has pns in motion. Seems we’ve both ged…’ Hiroshi didn’t know what to make of the look he was getting from Yuki. He acted with y, yet had a ruthlesshat went pletely trary to him. It was an uling paradox, and not one he felt was worth stirring at the moment.

  Flig his fingers sighe guards to drop, though they had some doubts about the orders. “Yuki. Stop ging to the past. Your friend is dead and he’s not ing back.”

  Yuki stared with mencholy burned into his eyes. “I’m starting to see that.”

  Chapter 314 – Crawling at the Darkness

  As he walked out of the room, Phoibe stopped him. “Pnning on abandoning them? Abandoning your home?”

  “I came back because I won’t,” he shot baeohat felt more like an interloper than someohat actually uood things. She might have lived iy for a while, but this was where he was born. It wasn’t something he would ignore.

  “So what do you pn to do? You ’t fight Takako alone as you are.”

  “They don’t worry me.”

  “Already being arrogant in your superiority? The Atntean blood in you is strohan you thought.”

  He slipped out of her grip a walking away. “It’s nance or superiority, just simple facts. I gave them their powers and I take them away.” Yuki walked through the threshold letting the door close.

  Phoibe stared at the door that hid Yuki. “It is reatest mistake thinking that we’re gods.”

  Seiji popped out of the room to chase after Yuki. He lost his i in trying to vince a bunch of dark and depressed people of their mistakes. His friend was all that really mattered. “Where’d Yuki go?” he asked Phoibe, as he searched out quickly.

  “Your frieo brood.”

  “Huh?”

  “He stepped out. He’s probably not very far right now, but wait too long and he’ll likely do something foolish.”

  Not pletely following her meaning, he uood enough that he o find Yuki. In his mind, there was nothing wrong with doing anything foolish. Her tone made it seem like it roblem. Seiji was more than up for something foolish.

  Outside, he didn’t immediately find Yuki. So he leapt up to the highest building in the block to start scouting things out. Finding him was actually easier than he expected. Yuki was on the same rooftop that he jumped on. “Yuki?!” His nding put him dangerously close to actually fttening him. It staggered his steps nearly making him fall backwards.

  Taking a few moments to bance himself, Seiji recovered and walked over to sit dowo him. He reized the look in his eyes. It was the same ohat he had back at his shrine. “What are you doing, Yuki? I thought we already decided we were going to stop all of this. Why are you hesitating now?”

  “It’s not that, Seiji. I’m going to stop it, this is a problem I caused and I’ll put ao it.”

  “That Takako girl caused it, not you.” He didn’t really see why Yuki bmed himself for something that strangers did. The whole thing even started while they were away. So he did nothing.

  “That may be true, but I’m the ohat gave her powers. If I hadn’t given her powers none of this would have happened.”

  “You ’t bme yourself for something like that.” “Why not? This whole thing is my fault! The people suffering in our home are suffering because of my mistakes! My power caused this!”

  Seiji threw out a quick punch at Yuki with as much trol as possible. Even though it didn’t kill him, it still sent him tumbling away. It wasn’t an easy thing to hold babsp; “People are suffering, in pain and dying all over the world and you think that’s your fault as well?”

  “Huh?” Pain still pulsed deeply in his cheek from the punch that Yuki was a little distracted. He had tht himself first. “What’s that got to do with me? I didn’t do anything.”

  “But you could, right? With your powers you could go around everywhere putting ao everything. Right?”

  “I guess so…”

  “But you’re not. People are dying because you did nothing. Is that your fault?”

  “It’s not the same thing!” With the pain calming, Yuki started to see where Seiji was going with his dire. He was just trying to find an excuse for him. Yuki couldn’t accept it.

  “It’s not? A or ina, how are they any different when if you acted differently things could be better?”

  It was more of a philosophical debate. A rather surprising thing to be having with Seiji, Yuki admitted. He didn’t really have a answer for it when looked at it like that. “I-I…”

  Seiji stood up and walked over to help Yuki up. “It’s not different. So you made a mistake, everyone does. You want to fix it, do so and stop dwelling. Focus on what you do rather than what you should have done.”

  Grinning a little, Yuki felt a little odd getting such help from Seiji. But it sounded right. “I o fix this. Though it’s not always easy tet that this is my mistake. It’s not something small that people just five.”

  He pulled Yuki up. They stared at each other with grinning smirks in exge. “Well then I’ll just punch you again to set your head right. Remember to stay focused.”

  “I’ll try.”

  “So what’s the pn?” Seiji punched his fists together trying to put the energy bato the air. They needed something a little more positive. He was tired of all of the heavy atmosphere. “You’ve got a pn, right?”

  Yuki ughed a little at Seiji, reverting to his simplicity. He gave a small nod as he turo look out in the dire of their neighborhood. It was far away and in the night they couldn’t see a thing. The lights and smoke created a haze over the area that was only barely reizable. “I’m w on something in my mind.”

  “I knew you had to be. After your little stunt at the execution grounds, I doubted that you’d be going into this blind. Not that I’m opposed to that.”

  “Yeah, it’s a different situation. Blindly charging in isn’t going to be something we do. Not to mention they’re cssmates and friends in there. I’m not hurting anyone.”

  He walked out o Yuki to join him. “That might not be possible. I don’t agree anymore with those guys’ beliefs, but some fighting seems to be likely.”

  “I’m not killing anyone, Seiji,” Yuki stated clearly, turning his head up towards Seiji.

  “I didn’t say we were. But a few bruises and cuts are going to happen.”

  “I know, that’s why the focus is going to be Takako. She’s the core of the problem and likely the solution as well.” Yuki tilted his head back towards the water reservoir. Standing on top of it watg them, Nerine remained silent the eime. “What about you?”

  “I will follow you. But I’m a ral party, I ’t involve myself in these matters.”

  “Nerine!”

  Yuki threw up his arm to stop Seiji. “It’s fine. You have to remember that she’s got a lot of burdens as well. This is a fn try for her, involvement would e ba Atntis. For now, Atntis has still elected to stay out of world affairs.”

  “They ’t just close their eyes and pretend the world does!”

  “Don’t fet I’m the King, Seiji. One problem at a time.” Atntis had almost too many problems for one person to handle. Running around Japaainly wasn’t solving any of them, but Japan had more immediate matters. He had too many things to fix. And he wasn’t even sure he could fix the Takako problem. It was just a hope.

  “So this is where you went off too,” a familiar voice called out from a building away. They jumped up the rest of the way to nd nearby them.

  “Tatsuya. What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be off with Hiroshi sharpening your knives?”

  Shrugging a little, Tatsuya seemed to be trying to py off some of the seriousness. “You’re not really giving him a ce.”

  Yuki stepped out in front to front Tatsuya directly. “I’ve listeo all I want from him. We won’t see eye to eye.”

  Sighing, he knew how hard it was going to be talking to Yuki. He crossed his arms aled in for the long haul. “You’ve had the be of not being here si’s started. I’m not sure you easily say you wouldn’t be ged by everything that happened.”

  “What? Are you justifying the murder of friends?”

  “I’m not justifying anything. Murder is still murder, if the w even cared anymore about what happened, yes we all deserve to be in prison or executed for what we’ve done. But you do what you o survive and protect others.”

  “There are other ways!”

  “We thought that way before, but Hiroshi learhe cost of such thinking. Before you pass judgment on the way he acts, maybe you should know what happened.”

  Yuki crossed his arms as well, but meant it to close himself off. He didn’t have any i in hearing about whatever story caused Hiroshi to ge. His friend was dead and that was all that mattered to him. There was no reasoning with any of them. They had so much blood on their hands all they could do to keep moving forward was to keep killing. It was all their justification and excuse. It supported them and if they stopped they would see the sort of mohat they had bee. He couldn’t excuse such logic.

  However, Seiji stepped up and put a hand on Yuki’s shoulder. “We should hear him out.”

  “Seiji?”

  “He is your friend right? Someone you care about. It may not excuse them, but maybe you uand.”

  Remaining silent for more than a minute, Yuki visibly looked to be flicted. It took him all that time to take a seat on the edge of the roof. “Fine. I’ll listen.”

  “Good, this goes back to a few days after everythio hell,” Tatsuya began.