The Raven Dark Hero 51

Chapter 51 : The Farewell with Kouki Suo

TL:SummerPeanut

Author’s note:

※I almost broke down, but I managed to draw it ((T_T)) The content has changed a lot from before, and I will send it separately in the first part and the second part m (__) m[1]

The place he transferred to was Kuroyume's hideout, the transfer room.

"Phew, I'm tired!"

Perhaps relieved by his return, Bright returned back to his Kouki personality and sat down. Although he made it seem like he has room to spare, the fight with Nature Stranger was really dangerous. If he made a mistake, he would die again. Also, he had used his gift ability a lot, so his stamina was quite depleted.

(To be fair, I don't know how strong that female general is and there were quite a few others behind her, it might be very risky if I had fought in this state...)

Bright then noticed the other two’s presence once again.

"Ah~ um~ let me ask again, but are you two...Jire-san and...Ba...bandet-san?"

"Oh, come on. I'm Jiren. I'm supposedly the number two of Kuroyume’s Numbers, second only to the boss. Remember that."

The 2nd of Kuroyume’s Numbers. Although he’s not too sure what that meant, he just assumed that he must be quite strong.

And the other person, a beautiful woman with glasses and waist-length black hair, smiled at Bright.

"I'm Vendetta, number four of Kuroyume’s Numbers. Even though I just told you previously... Oh well, please take care of me, alright? Since you looked like you're hurt pretty badly, let's get you to the infirmary first."

There were burn and frostbite wounds on Bright’s limbs to the point that just a glance would tell you they were all serious injuries.

As they made their way to the infirmary, Bright wondered why the number 2 and 4 of Numbers were there. He hadn't been able to hear much of what Vendetta had said because of the urges that followed after his revival.

When they arrived at the infirmary, Asami, the plumpy yet beautiful bespectacled doctor who had taken care of him last time, put Kouki to bed.

"...you're pretty beat up.... Okay, don't move..."

Asami's gift is "Healie Cure". It is an A+ rank gift and one of the best healing gifts in the nation.

As he received the treatment in silence, Line came into the room.

"Welcome back. I can't believe you defeated the Nature Stranger... You never cease to amaze me, YO.

But don't be reckless, okay? If it weren't for Jiren and Vendetta, you might have been in quite the pinch this time."

"......Sorry. By the way, why were the two of them there?"

"The boss YO. He said that you were in trouble, so he ordered Jiren and Vendetta, who were coincidentally nearby, to rescue you."

"That's that. While I was distracting them, Vendetta saved you. Obviously with our gifts. I didn't expect it to turn into a battle, though."

"Just as he said. Then again, it’s quite anti-climatic when I found you were only unconscious without a single wound unlike what the boss said."

Judging from the content of the conversation, they probably hadn't been told about Revived Hunter's abilities.

Here, Kouki had a question. It's...

"...uhm, thank you very much for everything. But will the action I took this time be taken as an obstruction to the mission..."

"You don't have to worry about that YO. Because this mission was already completed when Major General Sokushi was assassinated and the event disrupted. Well, I originally didn't expect that Dangerous combi would be satisfied with just that, but as expected, they went the extra mile, so I'll penalize them YO."

"More importantly, you seem to be the boss's favourite, and frankly speaking, even I would have a hard time taking on the Nature Stranger by myself.

Either way, we’ll have our joint mission soon enough. At that time it’ll be fine as long as you work properly."

"Right. But this big sister was a little surprised to learn that the rumoured Darkflash was such a cute boy, you know."

After their conversation was over, Line opened his mouth.

"The boss asked you to come to his room again...but I don't think you can do it right away with that injury. Then again Boss hates being kept waiting..."

"You can say that again. Boss doesn't know how to be patient."

"Most of the time, he behaves selfishly like a kid after all."

While sympathizing with Kiryu who was being bad-mouthed as he got treated, the door to the medical room was suddenly opened.

"...you’ve got done in quite badly huh. Although it’s understandable since the opponents were Nature Stranger."

Unexpectedly, the devil himself came to the room. This caused Jiren and also other members’ eyes to turn as round as a plate. That was how rare it is to see Kiryu himself personally visit a single member.

Kiryu urged Kouki, who got up to welcome him, to lie down on the bed again, and ordered the others to leave the room.

Even if Jiren did say it was alright about the mission obstruction, he still felt that he needed to at least apologize since the fact was a fact.

"...sigh, you really.. Why do you keep shoving your head into troublesome matters."

"I'm sorry..."

"While you were dead, the fact that Kouki is a gifted was exposed to everyone in that place."

His identity was exposed. And the few consequences that came with it could be easily guessed by Kouki. He was prepared that one day he would be exposed but now that it happened...

"I had Jiren and Vendetta recover pieces of your corpse that were spread around the two female acquaintances of yours and Nature Stranger. At the same time, Suou Kouki was made to be KIA without any doubts by showing them the burning down of your corpse."

"...Eh? ...Well...did I die?"

Suou Kouki is dead. But he’s still alive. He couldn't understand the sudden words.

"No, but I'm still alive, aren't I?"

"Don’t state the obvious. It’s ultimately what’s told on the surface. Even if Suou Kouki was still alive, the NDF would have treated you as a stray filth. It is a blessing in disguise that your existence has been reset as a result of your death, you know?"

Kouki understood what Kiryuu was saying. He himself thought about this before. About the case when his identity is exposed to others.

He was prepared to give up and admit that he was Bright at that time. That is to say, assuming that Kouki Suo is still alive, that Bright is actually himself.

The impact this would have on the people around him... especially on his family, would be huge. But he knew that if he could explain the reasons to them, they would understand, and he also knew that he would be able to support his parents with what he earned as Bright.

He wouldn't be able to go to school. But Fuuka and Takahiko would understand, wouldn't they? He thought that he had built a strong relationship with them that would allow him to see them once in a while, even if not often. That's what he was thinking.

...All these wishes are based on the assumption that Suou Kouki was still alive.

In the end, Kouki wasn't ready to accept that his existence would disappear.

"...Why? There’s no actual need to pretend that I'm dead..."

"You don't have to pretend you’re dead…you say?  Do you think your parents and friends will understand you? Unfortunately, that kind of naive thinking doesn't work in this nation. That's how dangerous the notion of filths is in this country.

Let's say that they do understand. Are you going to let your family bear the burden of your stigma for your own selfish reasons? In order for you to live, your parents' lives will be in a sense as good as dead, you know?"[2]

...The faces of his parents and friends popped up in his mind.

He hadn't had many face-to-face conversations with his parents lately. It was because of the embarrassment peculiar to adolescence, but even so, they would still occasionally call out to him at the right moment and care about him.

He thought of Takahiko. After all, Takahiko was the only decent friend he had. He always made him feel better, no matter what. To be honest, without him, Kouki’s personality would have been much more rotten.

Next, Azusa and Haruka. ...At the end of the day, they stood by Kouki, not Hiro, and desperately pleaded for his innocence. That made Kouki happy.

...If he had changed the way he treated them in the past just a little bit more, a different future might have been waiting with those two.

And Hiro. ...The old Hiro that Kouki knew wasn't that trashy at least. There was a part of him that thought that maybe it was his own fault for making Hiro like that.

Lastly... Fuuka. The first date in his life was more fun than expected. Just as he was thinking that he would tell her about his feelings and share more time with her as lovers... When push comes to shove, he wasn’t able to tell her, and he even lost the present that he had bought for her.

If it was the Kouki that had not manifested his gift, maybe he would have accepted the fact that he had died easily.

But now, he had too many things he didn't want to lose.

"One thing I can say is that everything that happened this time is all the result of your own choice. You aren’t in the position to complain to anyone."

It was definitely his intention to help Hiro at that time. As a result, the original goal was achieved, but at a price. Price much larger than what he assumed...

"I don't want to... I am not dead..."

With tears on his face, Kouki squeezed out a voice from the bottom of his heart. However, he knew that his words would not be effective enough to change the reality...

Author’s Note:

※He feels deep regret about his shallow actions... Please enjoy the second part.

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TL’s note:

1. I’m not sure what the author meant by that.
2. The original word is karma but I don’t think it fits the context and world setting. Hence, I used the word stigma instead.