Takabi stepped out of the Examination Room, his mind still jumbled up from his conversation with Shink. His head rested gently against the door, eyes closed as his mind thought back to his mother.
Myra's face, her beautiful features and motherly smile, shattered by the man she trusted so deeply, so much that she renounced her own demonic thrills just to be with him.
Takabi had met his mother once since his memories returned to him.
Some months ago, before his battle with Erodon, he entered limbo after giving his life to save Rose from Kairas. Without a doubt, he knew he died when he met her, but for reasons unknown to him, his soul was pulled back to the living world. At first, he thought it was fate, but now he wasn't so sure. For it to be destined, there would have to be something prophesied. He hadn't heard anything of him being some type of chosen one.
He just got lucky.
Myra believed he was capable of changing the world, and that has been his goal for the past few months. It's what spurred him on, what made him want to train so much. The gap between him and Porrelth showed him something though.
If he was going to do anything for the better, he had to be more powerful than he currently was.
Raia approached him. She craned her head aside, dark curls hanging off her shoulder. She touched his arm, speaking gently. "Hey, you okay?"
"About as okay as a guy could be," He said sarcastically. "Where's Aqua?"
"Who?"
Takabi kept a blank stare until she blushed. Raia tapped her finger against her chin until it came to her.
"Oh, the little girl! Nana put her in your room. We're going to be monitoring her around the clock, make sure she's okay."
Takabi nodded and began making his way towards the staircase, Raia close behind him.
"Gotta say, the girl is very shaken without you around. Any new face and she's ready to run."
"I wouldn't blame her. She's just a kid." He said, walking down the steps and down to the cafe. Raia kept pace with him in a slightly giddy nature, their eyes falling on the murals painted on the cafeteria wall.
A single name, Riki, is what Takabi focused on. He didn't know too much about him to this day, and the only encounter he can make any actual note of is the first meeting.
He tried the intimidation tactic to keep him away from Nana. Little did anyone know, their relationship was much deeper than he thought.
"Does anyone ever bring up the dead," He asked suddenly, looking at Raia.
The Succubus returned her look, nodding in silence. The two stood there, a couple other eyes following theirs until the cafe got extremely quiet. A cloud of sadness quickly took everyone over, and they stood, walking in front of the mural and lowering their heads, murmuring gentle prayers.
A hand touched the pair's shoulders. Turning, they looked at Mia, her dark hair tied in a bun. Her arms were a bit frail, but otherwise, she filled out her dress well. Her face was devoid of her usual glasses, and her lashes were done well to stand out.
"None of this. Come on guys, if we dwell on the past, we'll never be able to go on. Riki would want us to."
"LIKE HELL!" A voice yelled, cracked with pain. A man in a brown jumpsuit slammed his palm against one of the tables, disturbing everyone and drawing their attention. Takabi knew this man, despite the fact that his hair grew out some and his face was sporting a full beard. "This kid shows up, and we lose one of our best."
"You're the one who attacked me when I first came here." Takabi touched his chin, thinking back to find a name.
When nothing came, the man growled and barked, "My name is Zaku. You should at least remember that, and what you did to my crew!"
Mia stepped between the two, even though Zaku showed no intention of attacking. "Enough, Zaku. You know he never meant to hurt you guys. You all decided to attack him."
"We did what we had to!"
"And why is that!? He did nothing wrong, hell, he even saved my life the second he showed up!" Mia was standing firm. From his first meeting with her, he thought she was a simple book worm.
How wrong he was.
"That boy is trouble! It's his fault Riki is gone to begin with! Him and all the other Fallen Angel scum!" He shouted.
Mia went quiet.
Takabi narrowed his eyes, allowing Zaku to continue speaking and clenching his fist tightly. "If he hadn't shown up, everything would be the same. If we didn't help him, Riki wouldn't have been alone when he died… I could've helped him, or one of the others! Instead I was hospitalized because this asshole had a temper tantrum!"
Raia opened her mouth to speak, but Takabi stopped her.
He walked past Mia, removing his shirt and tossing it aside. When he spoke, his voice was calm, quiet, with a hint of coldness. There was something under his tone. Something unreadable with a faint glow of his eyes.
"You're right. Maybe it is my fault. If you really feel that way, come at me. Don't hold back at all."
"Takabi," Mia muttered.
Raia placed a hand on her shoulder and gently pulled her back. The crowd moved the tables aside, giving the two room to move around.
Zaku stepped forward, rolling up his sleeves.
The two shared a strong, unbroken glare at one another, before Zaku struck Takabi's cheek. The boy held his ground, his foot stepping back only slightly. There was a pause before the next punch. Zaku followed by pushing Takabi to the floor and getting on top of him, throwing heavy fist after fist.
Everyone watched in stunned silence.
After a few minutes passed, Zaku was breathing hard, his knuckles bruised and the floor coated a bit in Takabi's blood. It took him a bit to realize, but the boy wasn't fighting back at all. There was no resistance in his body whatsoever, otherwise Zaku probably wouldn't have gotten anywhere near as far as he did.
"Break it up," Nana's voice boomed.
Zaku looked at her, then back, standing and watching his hands as Takabi sat up, rubbing his face as the injuries began to heal. He stood, eyes closed.
A wave of guilt washed over Zaku. He didn't know why, or understand, the reason Takabi allowed himself to get beaten.
An apology?
To let Zaku blow off his steam?
There were many ideas, all of which were negated when Takabi kicked Zaku in the chest, knocking him off his feet and onto the floor.
"You get it? It's easy to point blame and expect someone to accept it. What if I had fought back?" Takabi lowered his foot, walking over to his shirt and picking it up, slipping it back on over himself. "Just because you're sad, don't pass any blame onto a person who's done nothing wrong."
Nana descended the stairs, hand against the bow on her shirt. "Takabi, that's enough."
He watched Zaku for a moment, then looked at Nana and approached her. "I'm not gonna hurt him, relax. Can we go? We have stuff to do." She gave him a worried look, something he picked up on rather quickly. He took her hand in his, and smiled warmly at her.
The simple gesture made her relax.
"Just… Don't do that again. Okay, everyone back to your own business!" She yelled, taking her hand back and clapping loudly.
The tables began shifting, Zaku watching Raia and Mia sit at one. His eyes looked around at everyone, and he just wondered how they could move on so easily? How is it that they have the ability to be so strong to handle death so simply, to not let it run them down, plague their minds and destroy their souls? When his gaze fell on Takabi's back as he and Nana left the Bunker, he felt the determination in his chest grow. He wanted to know.
He HAD to know how to cope with the death of someone he considered family.
"It's not easy," Mia spoke up. She caught Zaku's gaze with her own. "If anything, Takabi probably feels guilty about the whole thing. Just because he chooses not to acknowledge it doesn't mean he isn't affected."
"I just…" Zaku lowered his gaze. "Maybe I was too harsh."
"Zaku, take a vacation," Raia said. "Relaxing every once in a while is good for you."
He looked between the girls then stood, lowering his head to Riki's photo and moving up towards the bedrooms on the second floor.