章 15: Chapter 12 - The Deed That Haunts, Part 2
The unmoving fingertip pointed at his chest, akin to the sharpest knife inches from the edge, the proclamation spoken consorted by the look of absolute resolve to make good on his intent had Subaru stumped for a proper response.
Subaru's gaze remained affixed, a rigid gaze upon the man's smiling face.
"Just you," the man reaffirmed, retracting his arm outstretched, "only you."
A twinge of pain surged through Subaru's eyes, repercussion of a stare unbroken. A rumble of noise tore him from his stupor, in the midst of conversation, the many that surrounded them were suppressing laughter and sneers. But discernibility felt distant as if barely even there. Subaru could only focus on the one voice, the one that fronted him.
"Fair compensation. Wouldn't you say?" said the man.
The shake of his head was slight, so subtly done, Subaru himself was oblivious to this involuntary action.
"I don't follow..." He said.
"You're not refusing me," the man pointed out, "no, you do follow. You know what I want."
"I don't."
"You do."
All this time. Every word he spouted, enunciated with such finalities, like a truth without contrary. It felt vexing. It felt unswayable. It also felt very much irritating. Subaru felt the twitch in his brow, felt his fingers fold into his palms.
"I can't understand if you don't elaborate. Quit acting like I can read your mind and tell me what you really want already."
The fear didn't leave him, but the sudden emergence of this bold display of bravado was unhindered by it. Yet the man merely reacted with an even more amused smile, one that bared teeth, razor-sharp teeth. Fangs formed beyond the sharpness of even the most deadly of weapons.
"Yes, that's good. Keep that scary look in your eyes and you'll do just fine Natsuki Subaru."
A true predator.
But Subaru won't be intimidated, to back down will be to play into his whims once more. So in spite of bolstered terror, his expression did not waver.
"You didn't answer the question," Subaru spoke, meeting his expression of utmost enthusiasm.
"I don't usually tolerate defiance. But just this once, just once, I'll reward your audacity," said the man, nodding in approval, "From here on, until I believe I've been properly compensated, you will work for me... you will listen to me... and you will do as I say, no matter what it may be."
Trouble was never something Subaru would actively seek, yet no matter the odds, no matter the circumstances, no matter the distances he traveled, it always seem to find him and he was getting sick of it.
"And? What makes you think I'm just going to go 'Yeah sure, I'll do what you say, no problem.' just like that?"
The smile only seemed to grow ever wider, taunting, as if holding every action, every word he threw back in contempt.
"You know what I find highly amusing, Subaru?"
"Can't say I do actually. I don't think there's anything remotely funny about this situation at all."
"The way you talk," the man stated, "You speak as if you believe you have a choice in the matter. It's a rather funny thought... I can't help but smile."
"Oh, I don't?" Subaru asked rhetorically.
"Let me ask you this, then," the man said, standing up and at once, every patron in the premise stood with him, every occupied chair in the area, vacant. Many shadows loomed the ground, circling the table where Subaru and the man sat. Silence fell and the man spoke once more, "Do you think you do?"
Subaru felt the eyes of many scour his entire being, the stares of hostility, of danger, surrounding him. He gritted his teeth and heaved a breath. A trickle of sweat fell from his chin as he met the stares with his own, gradually faltering with every second.
No escaping, no running. The very moment he submerged himself within, seeking truth and answers, he was snared. Had he ran earlier when he had the chance, none of this would have transpired. A risk he took without a semblance of reward.
Now the consequences laid bare against him and it bared its fangs once more.
"All I'm merely making you do is correcting your wrongs. Is that really too much?"
"I do not need to correct anything. Emilia's insignia does not belong to you. It wasn't yours to steal. I did nothing wrong. I did what was right," Subaru spoke, meekly subdued by the harsh atmosphere, "I did... the right thing."
Even intentions solely for good brought only repercussions to him. Even the few rights he has done would ultimately wrong him in the end.
(This is so unfair. Why am I being punished for this?)
"I do not doubt the purity of your actions, Subaru. How noble they were, indeed. But please, don't confuse your righteousness with a lack of accountability. I did not do this to you. You did this to you. Take responsibility now, and do the 'right' thing."
(I just wanted to help her that time. I truly wanted to help her. It wasn't for me. It wasn't. So why are you punishing me for it?)
"Take my hand, shake it firm, shake it strong, and we'll redo this again." said the man, extending his arm toward Subaru, "My name is Leonardo or 'Leo' for short and you, Natsuki Subaru, will help me attain my goal."
(I did not do it for me. I did not do it for me that time. So why? Why?)
"Just reach for my hand, Subaru. That's the first step to the right thing."
Scars and calluses blemish the skin of Leo's palm, far from the healthy fade of healing. There was little doubt in Subaru's mind that he would reach the end of this with far less or even unscathed. The muscles in his body tensed, he took a deep breath and then...
"SHAMAC!"
Blackness. Blankness. A shroud of thick miasma. Enveloping fast, spreading wide. A seemingly endless abyss, void of sound, void of sight. A chair toppled downwards, table legs screeching across wooden floorboards, footsteps at a rapid pace. He can't let this chance slip away, Subaru ran and ran.
He bashed shoulders with the many still staggering in the darkness, nearly tripped among the tables and chairs strewn across the premise yet he pressed on with little heed, with little regard for anything else.
He knew he was close, he could sense it. Smell the air so clean and fresh, so nearly there. Then he saw it, a glint of light, a flash of silver and it gleamed ever so sharply, ever so insidiously. He stopped in his tracks. He felt the kiss of death, the searing burn of torn skin agonize his throat where a short serrated black blade pressed lightly against it. He felt the blood dribble down as his throat expanded for a fearful breath.
The blade that would have ended him... that had ended him long before, he recognized. As the miasma slowly waned away, the long slender fingers that held the blade, he recognized. The small playful feminine giggle that followed, he dreadfully recognized.
"Just once inch... one more inch forward, boy. If only you've taken it. I'd have loved to see the beauty that would have sprouted from it afterward," said a hauntingly gentle voice, as if droplets of poison interlaced every spoken word.
The rays of sunlight funneling through the dreary aged double-doors were right there. He saw the bright streak of freedom, mere steps away, and yet, he couldn't reach to bask in its light. Stopped. Trapped once more, in the grim shade, accompanied once more by emotions and sensations that seemed to never leave his side.
Pain, despair, sorrow, anger... and as his eyes slowly drifted towards his assailant, he felt it once more, the one emotion in prominent among all others - fear.
She formed a smile, the very instant their eyes made contact. A free hand of hers rose slowly and caressed Subaru's cheek.
Closing the distance between them, Elsa Granhiert spoke once more, "Oh... that expression of yours. How I longed to see that frightened face of yours once more. You never fail to entertain me, Natsuki Subaru-kun."
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