บท 35: Through A Dream

"Kazuichi? Kazuichi!"

The faint voice stirred Kazuichi awake as he rolled to the other side of his futon. Even though he was adopted by a rich couple, he was still used to the lifestyle of being an orphan. He's got a comfortable king-size bed in his room, but he'd rather sleep on a futon.

Sunlight peered through the gaps in the curtains, shining down on a small portion of Kazuichi's room. He felt the warmth hit his face, causing him to turn his head to the other side. With his eyes half-open, he noticed a familiar figure standing in front of him.

"M-mom?" Kazuichi noticed his muffled voice but he ignored it. He assumed that his voice was like that since he just woke up.

"Aren't you going to see us off? We're leaving on a business trip today, remember?" Her mom chuckled as if it was normal for Kazuichi to forget.

What are they talking about? Business trip? What business trip? Kazuichi asked himself as he listlessly sat up. Rubbing his eyes, he followed his mom downstairs to the living room.

Once they reached the foot of the stairs, Kazuichi finally realized what his parents were talking about. His eyes shot wide open as he grabbed his mom by the arm. It was like a jolt of electricity in his head— or so that's what he felt when the memories came flooding in.

News about the plane crash.

Live reports on the scene where the dilapidated plane was wrecked.

Then the authorities stopped by a couple of hours later to inform him of his parent's death.

It was like a movie, flashing through Kazuichi's mind as he reached for his mom. He vividly remembered their tragic deaths, then the faces of their loved ones who were only after their money. It was a cruel ending, and Kazuichi wanted to stop it.

"Mom! Dad! Don't go!" He screamed his lungs out, but the events continued.

Kazuichi felt like watching a movie that didn't have a pause button. No matter what he did, the scenes kept going and going until his mom and dad were already by the front door, waving at him goodbye. "Take care of the house while we're gone, son, we'll be going then." They simultaneously said while the door slowly closed.

Kazuichi reached out his hand as his eyes teared up. He choked on his tears as he tried to stop the door from completely closing... but it was all for nothing.

Kiahk~!

Squelch~!

Tip. Tap. Tip. Tap.

Before Kazuichi realized what was going on, the scene in front of him completely blacked out, and the last words of his parents continued to echo in his mind as his vision cleared up. His surroundings slowly brightened as his eyes fluttered open.

The first thing that Kazuichi noticed was the taste of blood on his lips. The taste was nothing like fresh blood, however. It has a sour and tangy aftertaste as if someone squeezed a hint of lemon on it. Bitterness was present as well, which almost made Kazuichi gag.

Grip~!

As his surroundings finally cleared up after he woke up from his quick but traumatic dream, he felt his outstretched hand gripping something. When his gaze traveled from his shoulders to his hand, he realized that he was holding an Aberrant by the neck—

— Except the neck of the Aberrant was squeezed to the point where the Aberrant was beheaded. The squelch he heard was when he punctured the Aberrant's carotid artery, causing the rotten blood and flesh to spray at him, hence the weird taste in his mouth.

"Haah~!" Kazuichi screamed, wondering why he was holding the neck of an Aberrant in the first place. When he looked around, however, he realized that every single Aberrant in the room was killed, and their brains were chewed out from their heads.

Adding to that, Kazuichi could more or less tell that their deaths didn't come as easy. Based on their contorted faces and their mangled bodies, it was obvious that they were torn to shreds while they were struggling to fight. It was the aftermath of someone losing control and tearing them to shreds. "Did I do all this?" Kazuichi asked himself.

"Nah, of course not. I'm not that strong. Besides, how could I handle all of them when I couldn't even fend one off a while ago? In any case, I'm just glad I'm still alive." Kazuichi heaved a sigh of relief, wiping off the blood and bits of flesh on his skin using his already messy clothes. He didn't know who helped him, and whoever it was, Kazuichi made a mental note to himself that he'll thank that person when they meet.

"These Aberrants would probably fetch a high price in the Underground Hybrid Auction... but then again, would they buy dead Aberrants?" Kazuichi asked himself.

With that question in mind, Kazuichi stood up and headed back to the staff room which was destroyed by the Aberrants. He remembered the water bottles which were stocked up inside the room and he decided to wash with them. "That's right, I got separated from Sano and the others... I wonder if they're doing it all right. In any case, I'm all alone again. Is this my cursed fate?" He asked himself. He wasn't particularly saddened about the notion though since he preferred to be alone.

After finding a corner, Kazuichi removed his clothes and washed the dirt off his body. He was grimier than he thought. Fortunately, there were spare clothes by the lockers in the staff room so he didn't have to go through the pain of re-wearing his soiled clothes.

Swishhhh~~~

As the running water cleaned his dirtied hands, Kazuichi failed to notice the bits of flesh stuck in his nails. Had he taken a closer look, he would've recognized that it wasn't flesh stuck in his nails, but bits of brain. It got stuck there when he clawed the Aberrants' brains out a couple of moments ago.

"Now that I think about it... I got hit on the head by one of the Aberrants, right? But why don't I feel anything now? In fact, I feel more refreshed than ever." Kazuichi monotonously muttered to himself as he donned a change of clothes.