The Devil Scene 7

Scene 7

Ariake Koichi knew that taking revenge for his parents' death would only bring more agony to him. Despite knowing so, he also kne that he couldn't just let it go, it wasn't as simple as that, the consticting and binding overwhelming feeling in his chest would not allow him to do so that easily. The promise his siblings and himself had made almost fifteen years ago still held onto his heart, burned into his memory so intensely it was as if it had left a scar, a permanent mark symbolizing that he would never, could never forget what had happened and all the grief and hatred cause because of it. He had promised Shizuna, he had promised Taisuke, he had promised and swore on his parents' lost souls, and even promised himself that once he found the murderer he would kill them. He had made that promise as a child stripped of his innocence and naivity, heartbroken and lost, and he would avenge that child. Koichi only hoped that when he did Tasuke and Shizuna would not be present so that he could recieve all the blame himself. Unlike him, they had a full life ahead of them, just about to begin. They had hope to live the rest of their lives fulfillingly, not as victims but as sheer human beings. To the oldest of the three, he felt as if he had already died the very second he had laid eyes on the bloodstained corpses of his parents. A sight that he would never forget even past his own death, it flashed vermillion with all the blood around them on the familiar old mats. He had wanted them to just pop up from the ground, smiling and laughing about how it was just a cruel joke that they played on him as punishment for sneaking out. But they did not rise, not even their chests were moving up and down, inhale and exhale, as a sign of breathing. Even though he knew they were dead, he had not wanted to believe. He had not wanted to believe that the two that watched over him so closely for all his life were gone, never to share a fond memory with or a kind or lecturing word with anymore. The cherished memories he felt that he had taken for granted had all turned into broken dreams and nightmares in just one second that he was gone.

Why?

Koichi had felt the pain from both Naruse Ryo and Serizawa Naoto, in the way Naruse had held him tightly to his own body to the passionate kiss he had shared with Serizawa. They had both expressed such guilt and agony that it pained Koichi just seeing them like that. He could feel their hands and hearts trembled, faltering and wavering in shuddering grief. Both had experianced such lost and such sorrow, poignant.

Yet, Ariake Koichi could not stop now. He had spent the last fourteen, almost fifteen now, years searching for the murderer so that he could be the one to kill him with his own hands. If he gave up now, all those years of grieving and planning would've been in vain. All those years of unhappiness grappling at his chest for nothing. It didn't matter how much it hurt to keep progressing forward on this. It didn't matter how much his body was eing wrecked due to the waves of anger and sorrow. As long as the killer would pay in the end, Ariake was willing to do pratically anything.