The Raven Dark Hero 118

Chapter 118 : Wavering Hearts

TL:SummerPeanut

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Half a year ago

While the members of the Numbers were disposing of bombs in various locations, Kouki and the others had arrived at Haneda.

“Let's head to headquarters and find out what's going on first.”

Kouki and Rumi nodded at Takahiko's words. Incidentally, Hannah had decided to stay in Germany for a while longer before leaving.

Kouki's intention to leave Kuroyume after this battle with Kagerou had not changed.

It was Kuroyume and Kiryu who saved him when he was struggling and gave him a purpose. In order to repay that debt, he had to do the last thing he could do to the best of his ability. He had made up his mind to do so.

(If I kill boss, I can stay alive. But no matter how many times I think about it, I don't think I want to live so much to the point of doing that……. I'm aware that I'm losing my emotions but as long as I don't forget my debt to this boss, I'll still be okay.)

He was not optimistic about his own death but he was a little proud of himself for being able to prioritize the lives of his comrades over his own even in this situation.

“Well~then, as soon as we're outside the airport, we'll use the transfer stone…… eh? Why……”

Takahiko was rendered speechless by the person who appeared in front of the three of them as they were quickly walking out of the airport, and intense emotions welled up in Kouki's head.

“Good work on your mission in Germany.”

A tall, nice middle-aged man in a long black coat. It's Kiryu, the boss of Kuroyume.

“Boss…… Why are you here? Line-san said that you’re on a solo mission……”

“As part of that solo mission, I was hoping to enlist Bright's help.”

Takahiko hid his inner impatience and looked at Kouki. Kouki stubbornly kept his attitude of putting the boss's life before his own. So, while believing that he would be fine.

But……

“……GUh…………”

Kouki's eyes were unfocused and he was trying his best to hide his crumbling expression as he held on.

(Why is the boss here!? In my head, I haven't changed my mind. And yet, if I let my guard down even a little bit, I'm afraid I'll just pounce on the boss……!)

Unconsciously, Kouki brought his palm to his mouth and bit down hard. If blood flowed, people would notice the abnormality so he treated his palm with Cell Flame at the same time.

“……What’s wrong, Bright? You seem a bit off……”

“No…… I’m fine, there’s nothing to worry about.”

(Calm down……. Calm down, me! I will not kill the boss…… I won’t!)

He desperately tried to suppress his rising desire to kill. Then, although not completely but gradually, the raging emotions subsided.

“Well then…… Why are you here, boss? Currently, we should be having a rough time with Kagerou, aren't we?”

He was worried about Kouki but Takahiko turned the topic over to Kiryu to assess the situation.

“Indeed. I’m sure they’ll be fine without me there. No?”

Kiryu's trust that Kuroyume would be fine without him couldn’t be less apparent. In fact, Takahiko also knew somewhere in his heart that even if they weren't there, with Jiren and the other numbers, they wouldn't fall behind Kagerou.

“Therefore, I have an important mission for Bright. I need you to put it into action right now.”

An urgent mission from Kiryu. There are not many missions that come directly from Kiryu in Kuroyume. In addition to that, Takahiko was a little surprised that Kiryu dared to tell him directly even though they were currently in the middle of an engagement with Kagerou.

“A mission, huh……. If it's for the sake of organization, I'm fine with it.”

His expression was already calm and collected. However, there was no way to stop the sweat that was exuding from his body.

“What’s wrong? Feeling unwell?”

There was no way Kiryu could have missed such a change in Kouki.

The urge to kill overflowed. And yet, Kouki was still able to suppress this killing intent.

“……No, it’s just airsickness. Anyway, let’s do this.”

Taking a deep breath, Kouki regained his composure.

“Wai-......”

Takahiko tried to stop him, but Kouki restrained him with his gaze saying ‘it's okay, I'll never, ever touch Kiryu.

Takahiko could only watch in silence as Kiryu and Kouki walked away, and Rumi also had an inexplicable premonition. ……one that told her she might not be able to see Kouki again.

Present time.

After being beaten by Kiryu, Evil left Teaser and Vendetta and was lying on the bed in his room.

(What was I supposed to do? Was I supposed to report everything honestly to boss?)

Now, he couldn't help but think that if he had reported it to the boss, maybe he could have done something about it in a way that he would never have thought of.

After all, he understood that Kiryu must have found out about Revived Hunter's secret.

On top of that, he was painfully aware of how helpless he was.

“Damn it……. Even if I knew where Kouki was, I couldn't do anything about it……”

It was still just a guess but the information from Vendetta gave him the location of Kouki.

But considering the source of the information, Kiryu must have found out the same information.

“……No, could it be!?”

Evil turned bloodthirsty and headed for Kiryu's room. An incredibly bad feeling was running through his head, and he didn't even notice Teaser that passed him on the way!

“Excuse me!”

He opened the door to Kiryu's room without knocking. However, there was no one in the room.

And as he looked around the room, he noticed a piece of paper on Kiryu's table.

“Hey, wait, Evil, what are you in such a hurry for!?”

Teaser, who was concerned about Evil's strange behavior, came inside the room late.

There was no sign of Kiryu, but a shivering figure of Evil with a piece of paper in his hand.

“……Evil?”

“……No, he can’t. This is… no, he can’t!”

Then Evil rushed out of the room again.

“Wai-……what is going on, sheesh!”

Teaser also chased after Evil. He couldn't leave Evil alone because his face was so blue and he had tears in his eyes.

“No, he can’t…… Boss, PLEASE WAIT FOR ME!!”

After reading the note, Evil ran to the transfer room to head to Sendai.

He was determined to stop the most dreaded development since he learned the secret of the Revived Hunters.

One week ago.

“It’s Fuuka! It’s Fuukaー! Oh, I miss you so MUCHー”

Bright frolicking in innocence……Fuuka and the other members of the group were stunned by Kouki's action of hugging, but…….

“Fuuka! Fuu…… AGUrgh!? GUWAAAAAH!!”

Then, Kouki suddenly started screaming, holding his head and cowering.

“Kouki-kun!? What’s wrong!?”

Fuuka held Kouki in her arms, looking worried.

“IT HURTS! IT HURTS! MY HEAD IS…!? ……ARGH-”

And then, Kouki collapsed helplessly and fainted.

“Kouki-kun!? Kouki-kun!!”

A few minutes later. As if to surround the unconscious Kouki on Fuuka's lap pillow, the members of the Hanagekitai, each with their own ‘damage’, were gathering.

“……Fuuka, if you don't mind. Can you tell me what this is all about?”

On behalf of the team, Yoshida asked Fuuka.

Everyone except Fuuka had thought that Kouki was dead. But now that Kouki was alive, and that Kouki was that Bright, everyone could not hide their confusion.

Fuuka remained silent as she looked tenderly at the prone and sleeping Kouki.

In place of Fuuka, Azusa opened her mouth.

“Kouki…… wasn’t dead. He manifested his gift without our knowledge, and for reasons unknown, he was living as Bright. And Fuuka knew it. She didn't tell anyone…… No, she couldn't tell anyone.”

Fuuka looked at Azusa in surprise. The expression of Azusa, who must have been hostile to her just a moment ago, was somewhat sad.

“I don't know the reason for this either but it was a secret that Bright was Kouki, wasn't it? With the way the world is going right now, I'm guessing that General Zaizen has been keeping it a secret, hasn’t he?”

Fuuka was surprised at Azusa's keen insight. She hadn't thought that she would be able to trace the information back to Zaizen.

And if the current Zaizen finds out that this information has been leaked, he may punish the entire Hanagekitai in some way. Fuuka thought about this and kept her mouth shut.

“……Sigh, Fuuka you’re truly a bad liar, huh. I can see it all written clearly on your face.”

When Azusa smiled, the other members started laughing too.

“Eh? Am I really that obvious?”

“Yeah, so I realized a long time ago that there was no way Fuuka was double-timing Kouki and Bright. But when I thought she was hiding something, I got stubborn…… I'm sorry, Fuuka.”

Azusa bowed deeply to Fuuka. Haruka, Watanabe, Okubo, and Kondo apologized to Fuuka as well.

“Hmm, at one point I really thought the squad was going to fall apart, but it looks like we're over the hump.”

Yoshida was the only one who felt truly relieved and sat down on the spot.

“Well then…… It's not clear why Fuuka couldn't tell us, but whatever happens, we're all in this together. So, won’t you tell us about Kouki……”

Fuuka looked around at all the members of the Hanagekitai team. Everyone was nodding vigorously. It was an incredibly reliable group of friends for Fuuka.

“I understand. Then, allow me to explain……”

She began to tell her friends about the events that had taken place since NDF’s attack on Shiroyume.

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