The darkness h around Hiroshi made Hitomi take a step babsp; For the first time, her Takako fed delusions of Hiroshi started to match with reality. “A winnable game? Only for you!”

  “Of course, I made the game so that I would win. You’re an obstacle in my path and I’ve already wasted enough of my time and strength on you when I should be fag Takako to end this nightmare.”

  Panic started to settle deeper into Hitomi. She already feared her owh thanks to Takako, but it was no longer an illusionary one. Once she uood that it was truly going to happerue fear set in with thick sharp cws around her whole body.

  Water fell out of her eyes in a massive tidal wave that mao surpass her i. Hiroshi gred at the impressive feat. A wall of solid unfling water raced towards him. ‘This is her true power…real emotions fueling her power…’ Usual pangs ripped at his chest. His hand clutched against his body.

  He dragged up his determination and moved forward. As the water fell upon him, he didn’t even attempt to dodge. It was hard to call it an attack of the same sort that Hitomi used previously. It was closer to filing about in helplessness.

  “I don’t want to die!” Hitomi started repeating it over and ain as she became more scared.

  However, Hiroshi kept his course. The water crashed upon him blowing everything away that it met. Yet, Hiroshi appeared oher side of the wave. He looked no less wet for his trouble. It appeared as though the water passed through him without toug him.

  The sight of Hiroshi’s ued body only intensified Hitomi’s reas. “Impossible! The water should be affeg you!” More and more water poured out of it. None of the gigantic waves could do anything to stop Hiroshi as he began to walk towards her. With each step that he closed their distahe greater the waves became even though nothing they did could stop him.

  “I made a special rule to allow me to not be affected by your water attacks when I make a specific gesture with my hand.” Against his chest, his right hand could be seen held close. His thumb crossed over to touch the ter of his middle finger while fttened against the other two. He appeared through the st wave in front of Hitomi with only timeters between them. “It’s not your fault.”

  “N-no-no!” Hitomi backed away a step before turning to attempt to flee from Hiroshi. A single foot of his drop to the ground making cracks that shot out towards Hitomi. The earth crumbled beh her feet until she no longer had any banbsp; She fell backwards on her back sliding back to Hiroshi’s feet. “I don’t want to die!”

  Hiroshi stepped forward walking onto Hitomi’s torso. He k down close to her seeing the terrified look on her fabsp; “Perhaps now at the end you uand how all of those you’ve killed have felt. Yetting the easy way out, you won’t have to live with this any longer.”

  “P-please! No! I don’t want to die!”

  He stretched out his hand toug his index fio her forehead. In the sky behind him, the score ged to four for Hitomi. Big text appeared iively gratuting Hiroshi on his victory. He stepped off her body as he already saw the light from her eyes fading.

  “I don’t…want to…die…”

  Hanging his head, Hiroshi stayed o her while her life disappeared. “I’m sorry. If I knew another way, I would have tried to save you.” In moments, his power stole away the life of Hitomi leaving behind a lifeless corpse. Much of the water fueled by Hitomi’s pan to disappear.

  Hiroshi stood up holding to his resolve. He had to bite his lip as his arms shook. Casting his gaze over to the hole in the sed floor where Takako stood, he could see the end of the darkness. The path however remained bloody as he remembered it. “Hate me and se. Tell me I’m doing the wrong thing, but this is not my world or my rules. These are Takako’s rules and if this world of hers is to end someone must py by her rules.

  “We probably ’t go back to being friends after I finish this, even with the world righted. You’ll never five me for my as. But I do what I must to save lives with what little power I’ve been granted. This will be the end.”

  Chapter 350 – Waterfall

  Jumping up to the hole, Hiroshi returo the that Takako cimed as her throne room. He sloroached the base of the twisted throne. “I passed your little test.” Hiroshi had trouble feeling his body after his fight with Hitomi. While he wasn’t pletely broken, it still left him weakened. He did everything to hide it from her.

  There was a stillness in the manner of which Takako held herself. “Yes,” she responded with measured trol. Hidden within the single word was a mountain of emotions. It was difficult to pick them all apart from another, but one very clearly came out in front of the others.

  Rage.

  While even that was kept in trol, not all of it could be tained. The casual capricious attitude that she had before when addressing Hiroshi disappeared. Despite everything that he saw thus far from her, he thought she looked the most human now. ‘This is a little unnerving. It was easier when she looked like a monster.’

  “You killed her.”

  “You sent her.”

  “You cheated.”

  “I won by any means.” Hiroshi didn’t expect her to be so focused on the death of Hitomi. He didn’t see it having su impa her. It made him wonder what she was to her.

  “You killed her.”

  “What did you expect?”

  “For you to die.”

  “Sorry to disappoint.”

  “You shouldn’t have won.”

  ‘She’s getting stu a loop.’ The flow of the versation was very different from the st time that they talked. He still didn’t have ahy for her or the situation, but she tio defy his expectations. “Things won’t work out like you pnned.”

  “Is that right?” Takako stood up from her seat to stare down at Hiroshi. The swirling mass of emotions that stayed uhe surface looked to be slowly rising the lohat their versatio on.

  “I don’t know who you’re waiting for, but they’ll have to get in line. I’m ing for you first.”

  She slowly took a step dowhrone followed by another. “You think just because you’ve protected yourself from my power that you beat me?” The fidehough borne partially out of anger, resurfaced for Takako. She started to look more in trol, yet also losing that trol. Hints of emotion fueled insanity filled into some of the cracks developing.

  A flicker in Hiroshi’s stonewalled face appeared at the remark. “You knew about that?”

  “Of course, we made many pns knowing who you would have avaible to you. The tacti that I gained is very adept and her forecasts have all pyed out exactly how she foresaw.” As she slowly made her way doweps to Hiroshi, she reted more of what she was told. “She even said that Hitomi would die. I refused to believe her, but it seems that she was right about even that. She’s a rather disturbing woman.”

  “ing from your lips, I find that difficult to believe.”

  The steps seemed to be eternal as she was still walking down, albeit slowly. “Where others quickly embraced what I gave them because they couldn’t take what they saw with their virgin eyes, she didn’t even blink. She looked like she lived in such a world and it was onpbsp; And her mental barriers are truly impressive, even I couldn’t pee through all of her defenses.”

  ‘Someohat Takako couldn’t pletely capture?’ Such a thought unnerved Hiroshi as he pohe meaning of her words. “Why are you telling me all of this? You’re making it sound like you’re not actually the boss.”

  Takako finally stopped reag the floor of the . She was shorter than him. The small looking girl that had the entire neighborhood in a grip of fear still had an unassuming appearanbsp; All she had w for her resend reputation. It built her up into a grand figure that still was just a small being.

  Just a child.

  “I am the one in charge here. Make no mistake, I trol even her.”

  “So what’s the point of all of this?”

  “No point. Just killing some time before I kill you.” She carried the fiden her speech well. Takako believed without any doubt how things would turn out. “Like with Hitomi’s death, your fate has already been foreseen as well. You will fall to my hands.”

  “Another one of your tacti’s forecasts?”

  “That’s right.”

  “As you already stated, your mind trol powers won’t work on me. And your army is bei busy downstairs. You have no more moves to py.”

  She tilted her head a little amused by Hiroshi’s groundless fiden her position. “Is that what you think? So you think that I’m a helpless little girl without my power?” Suddenly the room started to shake from all sides. “Why don’t I show you h you are in your assumption.”

  Hiroshi braced himself, not quite sure what she had pnned. His eyes darted around the room not seeing any signs of other troops or traps. It didn’t seem like she had some secret on still being withheld from use. ‘ she still use her mind powers on me? Are they not what we think?’

  The throne behind her began to twist and break. All of the metal and wood started to turn to particles seemingly reag to whatever power that Takako was summoning for their fight. It was still all just show as nothing had happened yet.

  “Allow me to impart upon you the reason that you will lose.”

  “Huh?”

  “Your resolve you’ve been ging to so tightly.”

  “What are you going on about?”

  The ehrone had finally disappeared with the air around Takako being thibsp; Her preseensified with her io kill. “It’s a little secret that no one knows about. Hitomi was the first ohat joined me. I never allowed her to leave this room until today.”

  “What’s your point?”

  “Hitomi joined me willingly. She was never under my trol. I did feed her what she o fight, but she was still free from me.”

  Hiroshi’s eyes widened in shock at hearing such a revetion. He couldn’t move his body. “You’re lying. That ’t be right!”

  “She’s the only ohat I never had to use my powers on. Her moal level of for my wellbeing made her loyal to me. I kept her in the dark about most of the things that happened outside of this room. She was my st true friend. And you killed her!”

  * * *

  Far across the neighborhood away from the fighting, a deep trench carved through the ruins of what had once been a pleasant line of homes. Smoke rose in ns from all of the destru wrought by the impact.

  Buried partially uhe foundation of the st of the houses that finally stopped the impact, debris began to move. Out of the darkness of the rumble a hand puhrough wood and bribsp; It looked a little dirty and bruised, but no worse for wear.

  A slight haze appeared around the hand as a mist of particles started to emit from deep within. The pile began to shift and fall away as it was effortlessly cleared away. Standing up, he looked around at the damage and then in the far distao the school. Lights and explosio off around the area, but his eyes were normal. He didn’t know what was happening. “Damn, I ’t believe they knocked me out for the entire length of the fights. I’m awake now and I’m ready to put ao all of this! Just hang in there everyone!”