...
Jason groggily woke up, shaking his head as he did.
’I’ve been asleep.’
He slowly got up and stretched.
’But even then I still feel a little sleepy.’
With his eyes he scanned the surroundings, the garbage stretched out for miles without end.
He tore off a piece of the cloth and tied it around his nose.
’And the air here stinks, but its much safer here.’
He leaned against the wall and closed his eyes.
’Finally, the Hachiman main clan building is close.’
It was close.
Closer than it had ever been, this was literally the last settlent between the final destination was this one.
But it was complicated.
How were the two places situated closely, or maybe they were farther than he thought they were. Either way it was close to ending, he was sure of that.
He had spent a lot of ti in here and he was sure that his actions weren’t for naught.
’And then I can leave.’
He still had a lot of things to do outside the dungeon.
As Jason mused his thought process was interrupted by Kira.
Both of them stared at each other for a mont.
"You’re awake?"
He asked incredulously as he saw Jason.
"Yes, so what?"
Jason was quick to reply.
’What does he an I’m awake, did he think I was dead or sothing?’
"Usually you need 10 hours of sleep, and its 12 if you’re not disturbed."
"12?"
Jason repeated, he didn’t believe the words that ca out from the boy’s mouth.
"12. "
’Normally, human beings need 8 hours of sleep. I find it hard to believe that I need more than the required amount.’
"Sure."
His tone made it clear that he didn’t believe a word Kira had said.
"You’ve only been asleep for 3 hours."
"Is that a joke?"
"No."
"When are we going?"
Jason asked before taking in a deep breath, however he quickly regretted doing so.
"I don’t know."
Jason turned in his direction.
"Are you serious?"
"Yes."
"Why? Is it security or are you afraid of the rank 0s?"
"No, not any of that."
Kira admitted, a slight smile on his face as he said the words.
"Then why?"
"I want to et him, Izanagi Flourn, its been a while since I’ve seen him."
"Or killed him."
Jason corrected.
"I want to ask him a few questions before we fight again."
"What makes you think he wants to kill you?"
"Doesn’t he?"
Jason took a deep breath, Kira was a strategist and because he knew him Jason was used to playing dangerous gas; they had gone through a forest infested with thousands of Frost maggots and faced a strong rank 0 monster, one that had almost killed them, this was just one of his lighter reckless actions.
And at the very least, he knew that Lyra would help him, just like she had helped him during their fight with the rank 0 monster.
"I already told you that he said he didn’t."
He continued.
"He only said that if he was you he would have gotten the job done, and he doesn’t bla you for killing him because he understands."
Jason turned towards the boy lazily and watched Kira’s reaction.
"Is that so?"
He asked to no one in particular.
"How could he not bla for killing him?... Jason?
I’ve t a lot of people, people like Grey... You rember Grey right?"
He nodded.
" People that I didn’t kill directly yet when they co back as corrupted humans they co for my head.
Why would he not want to kill when they all did?"
Jason didn’t have an answer to such a question, it was too hard for him to answer.
’Maybe because he understands why you did it?’
He didn’t voice his words, they would be of no help.
There was a mont of silence between them, as if both of them were waiting for each other to speak first.
They both stood in the silence for awhile.
The wind blew but it failed to reach them due to the trash.
"Before I slept off I asked you to tell about Flourn."
"Yes, I rember."
Kira nodded.
"So now that I’m awake again, tell ."
Kira was silent for a mont, he was hesitant on speaking about Flourn, especially because the things he knew about Flourn were mostly concerned with him, and he wasn’t proud of the things of the things he did to him.
"Flourn was... You already described his appearance, didn’t you?"
"I did."
He could recall it all in his brain.
"When he was with and Sean he was much more alive than you said he looked, and he was happy."
"How long was that?"
Jason questioned.
Kira’s expression turned serious.
"That was over half a decade ago, when we were nearing the other half of the world."
’I can never imagine his childhood.’
Jason thought wryly.
While his childhood wasn’t the best he was sure that both Kira and Sean had it worse than him, soone with that kind of childhood couldn’t be normal, at least with that they’ve seen.
"And he is an ordinary mber of his clan, he isn’t from the main family or the son of an elder. He didn’t have any siblings either, he always looked after Sean like he was his own brother."
Kira explained.
"Then, his clan, the Izanagi clan, weren’t well-known then. But, he did boast that his clan had a very powerful technique, I never got to see it because he died before he could figure out what it was."
"How did he die?"
Jason questioned.
’Or more precisely, how did you kill him?’
He didn’t say that out loud.
"I killed him."
"Why?"
"Because, back then we had mistakenly entered a rank 3 dungeon. There were only three people in the cave and one of us had to go if the other wanted to survive."
Jason could see where it was going.
If what he was saying was true, Sean had not even awakened then and then only 1 of them had to die.
Kira wouldn’t kill himself for another person.
The only option left would Flourn.
"So you killed him?"
"I didn’t kill him, we fought. But, he was defending, I was attacking.
Eventually he died."
’Eventually.’
Jason already understood it.
From the short explanation alone he could find out the reason for Izanagi Flourn’s death.
It was Kira that had killed him to save his own life.
Sure, he didn’t know any selfless person but outright killing a companion didn’t seem right.
’I know that he’s that kind of person.’
Jason stared at the boy.
’But, if we were in a similar situation would he kill ?’
"In truth, I had no other choice."
’He would.’
Jason thought.
Kira wouldn’t hesitate to kill him if he ever found that one of them needed to die if they wanted to survive.
Jason knew that.
Yet Kira still told him about the incidents, it was like an indirect warning to him, a warning tell him that he would do the sa thing to him if the situation ever demanded for it. That too without a second thought.
It wasn’t a good thought, yet there was no denying that it was true.
"But, you didn’t kill him properly."
To combat such a skill he would need to the Izanagi.
He knew that he had already co close to death again in this life, but if he wanted to avoid death he required the technique.
That was how Izanagi Flourn had managed to survive.
"I know that, now."
Kira answered.
"Even though he says he won’t do anything, try to imagine a scenario where he actually does sothing, what would you do then?"
It seed a honest inquiry.
But there was sothing beneath its structure.
"We would fight again, but this ti, I would kill him and he wouldn’t co back."
Kira answered.
Jason raised an eyebrow.
"How are you sure of that?"
Kira showed sothing in between a smug expression and a grin, yet it never looked like both of them.
"Because, he isn’t the first person I’ve killed.’
Kira walked away after saying those words, leaving Jason to ponder on the gravity of them.
"This guy..."
Jason murmured to himself before walking away.
"Oh, I forgot one thing."
Jason turned backwards to face Kira.
"We used to abbreviate his na by calling him IF but he didn’t like it so we changed it to IT."
He walked away without turning back.
"...will co for my head one day."
Jason murmured before continuing on his way.
"But IT?"
He muttered.
"Maybe he really is IT, he doesn’t even bother to show any emotions, he just acts like a doll."
Flourn’s behavior was unnatural.
Unlike people who wore a mask to disguise themselves, Flourn was different. It was like he had no emotions to speak of, almost like a doll.
Lyra was sowhat like that but she did show expressions from ti to ti.
He wasn’t sure if Flourn was the sa as when a sensitive topic was brought up he showed little to no reaction to it.
He didn’t even look bothered.
"Maybe IT, maybe IT is really a good na for him, at least now."
Jason mused as he thought about it.
For soone who acted like he did, IT didn’t seem like a bad nickna. In fact, it suited him quite well based on his knowledge.
Though, it was disrespectful.
"Jason."
A single word snapped him out of his world of thought and he jerked his head rapidly to the side.
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