Clap, clap, clap.
It was always those damn claps. The sound of palms colliding with each other was meant to celebrate something great or express one's positive emotions, yet right now, Geto felt nothing like that from those sounds. White, faceless figures in suits all clapped their hands tirelessly as they surrounded him.
Geto looked at his hands, which were covered in red and black blood, it was unknown whether it was from a human or not. Then he saw it, wrapped around his wrist, soaked in dark red blood, a white headband of sorts.
"Ohh, look at that, isn't this one that belongs to the girl you were supposed to protect?"
A dreadful voice, a voice that he could never forget, echoed in his ears. From behind him, from shadows, a hand, one that's way bigger than his own, holds his own from wrist and raises it. It made his hand point towards one of the white figures in the crowd.
"What was her name again? Hmm, eh, that wasn't the important part, was it? After all, all she was was simply a vessel to feed upon that Tengen guy."
'Her name was Riko... you bastard.'
Voice sounded amused, and the hand clenched his wrist tightly, making him open his palm.
"Ohoho, what are you doing, sorcerer? Raising your hand against the weak non-sorcerers? C'mon, you are better than this. You said it yourself: "Strong must protect the weak." So, as a human with power, it is your duty to protect the ones without."
Geto wanted to stop it, the cursed energy, without his order, started accumulating around his palm at this rate, he might really use his cursed technique. His free hand, one with a headband wrapped around it, tried to move towards one that was being controlled, only to stop midway.
'W-what's going on? I can't feel my arm.'
It started shaking uncontrollably before bulging up, growing bigger and bigger until a face appeared on it. The familiar face of a teenage girl with long black hair appeared wearing the light headband that was wrapped around his wrist.
"Geto, I wanna go back home with you all."
At that moment, Suguru Geto's mind went blank, unable to process what he was seeing fast enough. His subconscious could no longer hold it back anymore, and let the myriad of memories flood back into his mind. His stomach churned, bile rising with every memory. But he held back by clenching his teeth.
Cursed energy surged through his body it became harder and harder to control. But he still held on, trying to ignore the face of the girl and the voice of the man who led everything to its downfall.
"Geto, Geto, where is Sataro? Where is Kuroi? Geto, can you hear me? Hey, Geto, stop ignoring me, would you? Where is everyone? You promised we would go back to them to spend more time together."
The sound of clapping became louder and stronger.
'Stop it... stop it... Stop it! Get away, you idiots! It's dangerous here! Go away! You... You... You mon-! Godammit! Just stop!'
"Tsk, how annoying. Shut the fuck would you."
The ownerless hand let his own go and turned into a blur, moving so fast even his brain took a second to fully process. Next second, the head of the girl goes missing, ripped off from where it was previously located, now dripping with blood, it hangs in front of him. The head is mouth is still open, trying to say something while the hand holds it from its hair.
"Better. Where were we again? Oh yeah, we were—"
Geto's deep growl cuts him off.
"Fucking monkeys."
"Huh? What did you just say, sorcerer? I think I heard it wrong. But did you just say-"
"Fucking monkeys."
Cursed energy surged from him without holding back as the darkness around him bubbled various monsters of various sizes, starting to emerge from depths within it.
Then everything went silent. The voice had gone silent, the hand, Riko's head, and the figures all disappeared into nothingness. He blinked a few times in confusion, only to find himself standing in the shower. Thin streams of water hit him from above, as he stared at it blankly in confusion about what had happened just now.
After a few short seconds, he looked down, this time looking more determined, and he muttered two words.
"Damn monkeys."
Outside the shower, mixed with his clothes, a familiar white headband lies unknown to him.