"I like the smile on your face. Trust everyone, you can become stronger, brat!"
Those words I had heard countless times from my brother. He told me to trust others, and that as long as I had the people who I trust, I will never be defeated.
This is the story of five years ago. It was the same day.
It was a beautiful night. I was not doing anything, just staring at the moon with my brother. It was cold but this night was special. I just felt like that.
I didn't say anything. He looked so calm. We both silently looked up at the winter moon and then again at my older brother who is like my father. He took me under his wings after the incident which happened five years ago in that terrorist attack in which I lost my original family. I don't remember my past or anything. For me, he is my present and I hope I will see him in future too.
"Will I lose if I don't trust anyone? Will it make me weak?"
I asked him this question. To be honest, I was not sure why I asked this question. I felt like I should ask him as he always talks about trust and love. If those idols that he follows are true then why is he all alone? Why is there no one beside us in this house? Why is he not married? Shouldn't he have his own family at this age?
"Huh? What do you mean by that?"
He no longer calls me brat anymore. It looks like he is now used to me living here. He is a very frustrated and hot headed person. He is now a chill person. He no longer showed his usual anger and said curse words. But, he still drinks and smokes.
He took out a cigarette from his pocket. He put it in his mouth and then lit up his cigarette to smoke. He took a deep inhalation and then exhaled the smoke before speaking.
"Yes, unfortunately. That's right. No matter how good you are, but, you will fall in the hole if you don't have anyone to back you up. You are standing because you trust me"
He laughed.
"Why are you alone then?"
He took another sip from his cigarette. He tilted his head down in shame or regret maybe. He starts to smile.
"Me? Alone? You guys are with me"
"You guys?"
"You and Sakura. You guys are my treasure, and the more I treasure you all, the better. You both are important to me, so I will help you and in turn, you both will help me.....I believe that being able to do things that you can't do alone is what makes you stronger"
This is the first time I heard him speak with sincerity. We never speak like that, he always jokes around or sometimes drinks and never answers in that manner. Today is different. My feelings were true. No. Not my feelings. It was something I knew would happen. I cannot understand but I want to understand.
I met my older brother's gaze and smiled gently.
His words were spoken without wavering and full of sincerity. He believes in me. I am worried about him. I want him in my future. I don't want to lose him like it happened to my parents who are my past. They no longer exist in the present and in my memories.
"Brother! You are important to me! I want to understand you because I want to help you!"
"Huh?"
"I want to help you too like you helped me. According to you, everyone needs someone for their sake——that's the rule of this world, right?"
I spoke without a cloud of emotion, my face fixed ahead. He in turn simply nodded his head.
There were no sounds of insects in the garden. All was silent. We stay silent and enjoy the peace of this night. Silence is gold.
This is the story from five years ago.
Since then he has been my idol. I want to be like him except I don't want his bad habits. I want to understand everyone and in turn, I want people to understand me. But.....I don't know why, buy, I could not understand them. I can judge them but understanding them is a different question. Am I scared to know the true nature of a person's heart? Is this true?
——
When I open my eyes. I am in a familiar place.
"This is my room.....!"
As soon as I speak, I start to feel weird. I breathe in thick air.
I tried to stand up. I feel dizzy.
"Ugh!"
I almost fall and support myself by putting a hand against the wall.
My body is heavy and it feels like my stomach is turning every time I move. I wipe the sweat off my forehead and leave my room.
I feel chill. I realize that I am not wearing my upper clothes to cover myself from the days of winter in December.
".....?"
There are some bandages wrapped around my body. I didn't remember any sort of matter where my body was damaged. Also, I am not even feeling a slight amount of pain.
"Wow, those are some wicked bandages. Wonder why those are here. Ah well, it's probably. It is not important matter"
"For today news; Japan and India signed an agreement on high speed rail, defence technology and memorandum of understanding on civil nuclear cooperation"
This is the sound of the TV. Did I leave the TV on before going to sleep? I don't remember any sort of thing. Maybe my brother is watching the News. It is morning. What is the time?
I enter the kitchen. Our kitchen is attached to the hall. So, it makes sense as we have to go through the kitchen first before entering the hall.
I reached the hall. Sakura must be at school. The hall was quiet. What is the time? Did I wake up earlier? Sakura came to wake me up every morning. Why is it all silent? The hall is quiet——
"Good morning, Kazuya senpai!"
——Here comes the sun!
"Wha——?!"
She is sitting on the floor. A foreigner is in my house!! Brother told me to never bring foreigners. Only Japanese! The brilliant student of my school is right in front of me!
"....."
I don't know what to say to her. I sat down and took a deep breath to calm myself.
"Beatrice, why....."
"Hold on. Before you say anything, I want an answer from you about your actions last night!! What were you thinking?!"
She is glaring at me. What happened last night? Was it something important? It looks like she is serious about last night. But what happened last night——?
"So many people quit drinking after saying things like that. Especially when opposite sex is involved"
"What the hell are you saying?! Bastardo!"
I start to recall everything.
"Hold on——"
That's right. I was battling against that monster girl and in that battle, I reached my limit and.....
"I should be dead. Why am I alive?"
"Admit that your actions were stupid. You were on death bed"
"It was not my mistake. I was simply fighting for victory. Victory is survival here. You and the Father told me"
"Hmph!"
W-what? Why is she sighing?
"You are still a newbie. You are not understanding when you have to fight and when you have to back down from a fight. You have to learn when you face the opponent and when to run away!"
"She was more powerful than me. I tried to defeat her. I thought it was going to be my victory until I hit my limit"
I think that I had a chance against her but it took a different turn.
Her face is now more red with anger than before.
"So, why are you mad, Beatrice? Either I died or lived, fate doesn't change. In the end, only one will become God among the candidates"
"It bothers me!! I had to carry you back to your house in this case! You are heavy"
She loses her temper.
"Thank you for service then"
Honestly, I don't know how I should feel that she is trying to help me.
"We are done with the last thing. Do you want to ask anything?"
She is a straightforward person. Very straightforward.
"I want to know what happened last night?"
"Very great question. After you were nearly killed not because of her but due to your limits, she revert back to her original self and left the place by saying that it was disappointing"
"So, in short, she left the battle despite she had a chance to kill me off"
She nodded.
"You're definitely lucky. You survived a big battle from the opponent who is like far above your league and yet despite not unlocking true power of your weapon, you rivaled her"
"What do you mean?"
True power of my weapon? Huh? What is she saying?
"Wait! Don't tell me that you thought your power was just boasting?! It is funny. You are using boasting as power means you are incompetent. You don't the full potential of weapon"
"How? I do not understand this. How do you know that my weapon is not about boasting?"
"The reason is simple. The very reason why you don't have access to the true power of your weapon is that you are not trained in any terms of this magic. You are using this system without any training that is necessary for a user of this magic"
"Ahm"
I get it now. The more I talk with her, the more I get to know that her ideal self at school was just a mask to cover her true nature(color).
"Well, putting that aside. Can I ask you something serious, Kazuya senpai?"
"This is why you are here. I don't mind"
"My question is simple——what are you planning to do from now on?"
She asked me a question whose answer I don't know. I have not made up my mind on this topic yet.
"Honestly, I don't know how I should answer this question. This is a lot to take in my mind. War, candidates, gods and death if I have to describe this ritual in one word. This is pure madness. I am not interested in becoming a God. I want to survive. If I want to survive then I have to win which means I have to kill my enemies and in this war.....only one will raise to be God, that person who survived to the end of this war"
There is nothing called working together in this war. If one makes a temporary alliance to survive, eventually those allies will turn into foes in order to achieve this ritual.
"You are scared. Aren't you?"
Her comment is natural.
As a candidate in this war, death is always beside me. Even a single mistake will make my head, a treasure of war for my enemy as death claims my soul. I am not strong enough to judge anyone above me.
"Are you going to run away? It is useless. It is our fate. No matter how far you run away from this fate, you are a candidate. You are fated to be killed or killed. This is your fate. Hide in any corner of the streets but it is your destiny that war will happen on you"
"That's not the point. I have to survive till the end but I will not take the throne of the world(God)"
"What happens if someone like her who is as strong as her from yesterday battles you? What are you gonna do?"
Yesterday.....? Did she mean that inhuman monster girl? She was sexy. Why am I thinking like my brother!?
Superhuman strength can destroy several houses. If she wishes then I think she would cause chaos upon this city. Maybe no weapon of humanity can harm her. It is unfair for humans if you put entire humanity against a monster girl like her.
"It was the start of the war. An amateur like you cannot survive in this war for a long time if you don't improve"
"Yeah, I don't think I will go around killing people and collect their souls. It is a bad idea. I don't want any innocent person caught up in this war in daylight and I can't harm any person looking like human unless they are magic user"
She sighed with her eyes closed like she was expecting a better answer.
"Let's get back to the topic. What are you gonna do?"
"You are now joking, girl. Do you like putting me in a place where I don't know what to do? You are a bully. What a faker!"
She is plotting something with a face like that. She is definitely plotting something.
"Hmm. There is a problem. Would you like to know? Do you remember the girl who turned into a monster to battle us? She will come back again to kill us. Most important thing is that there are some candidates who may strong or equal if not weaker than her"
I unconsciously put a hand on my upper. I am in better condition but whenever I recall last night. Something inside my heart screamed. What is this feeling? Am I scared? No. It is the opposite. Emotions which I never felt and are abnormal to humans flow into me. I am feeling excited. I am excited to achieve something——victory.
"I am asking if you want to join me. We can make temporary alliances with each other for each other's needs. I will teach you how to being a proper candidate for this war and helps you in finding your true capabilities and in turn, I want your sword to protect me"
This is certainly an attractive proposal. I don't know anything about this dark side of the world and I cannot trust my brother anymore. She can be a useful teacher for me.
"Kazuya senpai! I want to hear your answer"
She urges me to respond.
"I——don't get a choice"