"H-Hey... That's not true, right..?"
Airi's voice was shaking, as if pleading that it was just a bad joke.
However... "I uh... I am actually the one who killed your mother. Everything about it is all my fault. I am the real bad guy here, not your father... I'm really sorry." I couldn't look at her in the eyes because it's just too painful for me to see.
"No... No! NO!..." She began to start shouting for a couple of moment before suddenly becoming quiet. "So you're telling me, the shit I went through ever since my mother died is all because of you?"
"Yeah..." I clenched my fist as I slowly feel the hatred I had for myself exponentially rising. All of the guilt and regrets I had that day also started to swell in me.
Airi then broke away from the guys holding her and she began to punch me so hard in the face. Not just once. Not also twice. She beat me up for good couple of minutes. All of her hits were solid that I felt like throwing up.
"WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY SOMETHING, HUH??!!! SPEAK!!! OPEN YOUR MOUTH, MOTHERFUCKER! I WILL KILL YOU! I. WILL. KILL. YOU!!!"
For every words she said, there's a heavy fist being landed on me. Especially the last ones, those punches even made her hands bleed because it was too strong. Mysteriously enough, she didn't seem to aim on my nose and I deeply thank her for it.
Despite what she's doing, she's still desperately trying her best to hold back her anger.
And in the end, she just gave up and began to breakdown.
The delinquents behind her were cackling so hard like the junkies they always were all this time. It was as if they're watching a funny show.
But, despite the loud laughter they're making, all I could see was Airi's face full of agony, betrayal and hatred. That look hurt me more than all of her punches combined.
You know, sometimes I kinda wish I should have stay homeless and die that day if all of this would just happen to me.
Sigh, I really hate soap opera moments like this...
"Time out, t-time out!" I called out, running out of breath. She can't just keep hitting me when those guys are still there, isn't she?
"Airi, listen to me fir ー!"
"WHY SHOULD I?!"
I don't know what to point out first.
Was it the fact that her voice cracked and it sounded pretty funny, kinda, or her punch made a cracking sound the moment it hit my face? She's hurting herself so this has to be stopped.
I didn't even get the chance to finish what I was about to say, though.
"Man, stop! Let me speak for ー!"
Ouch.
"Airi, stop ー!"
Ouch, again.
Can she stop hitting my face for like two seconds? It hurts, really. She literally just asked me to speak up earlier and now she won't let me.
Seriously, I don't want to do this but I have no choice... Sorry in advance.
"AIRI, CAN YOU CALM DOWN FOR A BIT?!"
I hit her face too hard that it knocked her out.
Not really the most heroic thing to do to save someone from the bad guys but I won't be able to beat these people without shutting her up.
Right now, my priority is not to explain everything to Airi but to get out of this mess with her first.
I mustered the remains of my energy to stand up and caressed you my face. "You guys just watching us or ー?"
Before I could even look around and finish my words, I received a kick on the face. I tried to get myself up but these guys wouldn't let me. Why do people keep interrupting me when I'm speaking for a while now?
You don't just attack someone when he's talking! That's common sense.
They kept hitting and kicking me and saying "Ey, ey, ey!" like some sort of tribe people. All of them were surrounding me but I was glad that they didn't seem to target Airi as of the moment... NO!
Where is Airi's body?!
I broke out from these guys barrage of kicks and began thrashing them all away.
"Airi! AIRI!!! WHERE ARE YOU?!"
I looked around me desperately but all I saw were these guys. The leader was nowhere to be found though ー! NOOOOO!!!
"STOP HIM!!!"
Before these low class mobs could get a hold on me, I elbowed their faces and did a roundhouse kick on them so they wouldn't be able to slow me down. I was actually used to fighting because I once lived in streets for years before. Encountering thugs wasn't news to me that's why I more or less know how to fight back.
"You guys... Like I said, GET. THE. FUCK. AWAY!!!"
Oh crap, being beaten by Airi made me weak.
At some point, the chase just became a brawl between me and that blonde's pals.
This is bad. At this rate, I will definitely lose Airi. Speaking of lose, my balance was kinda getting off too... I have to do something.
"Hey! Are you alright?!"
That voice...
"Hey, where is Airi?"
The old man suddenly appeared beside me out of nowhere. It was as if his entrance was planned like a movie.
"Why and how are you even here..." Cough! The punches in my chest was cutting my ability to speak normally.
"Can you stand up?"
"Yeah..." I couldn't.
Seeing me like this, he helped me get backed on my knees properly. He then explained his out of the blue appearance in here.
"Earlier outside my apartment, I heard you muttering something about leaving your cigarettes in the park. I even contemplated whether to follow you or not that time but as you can see me now, no matter how hard I deny it, I really can't just leave my daughter alone. Especially this time that she needs me... I'm afraid to lose her again... So tell me, where is she?! You're the only one who know where she is."
Emotions flooded in his face the moment he spoke. First, it was the feeling of assurance that he's finally here then his worry about where his daughter is then fear of losing her and lastly, desperation.
What is this feeling of déja vu?
"Hey, is Airi alright?" He asked once again.
However, I really couldn't answer it confidently as of the moment so I just averted my eyes and focused on the bad guys.
The bad guys then took knives on their pockets... No way I would be fighting that.
"Shit... Old man, can you hear me?" I called him out, panicking and slowly readying to run away.
"H-Hey, I'll count one to three then we run, alright? We can't win this one, you hear me?! They have knives, man. Knives! Don't do something reckless now."
"O-Okay..."
The scene was similar to hunters and their preys. Of course they were the hunters, slowly approaching their helpless preys which were the two of us. For every step we took backward, they also move a step forward.
"We really don't wanna do this but fuck it, we'll all gonna die anyways." One of the delinquents said.
"Three..." I whispered audibly enough for this old man to hear. My hand was shielding him as we slowly and carefully planning to bail this battle out. We wouldn't win against these odds. Change of plans. We got to lose them first and look for Airi afterwards. I hope they're still nearby.
"Two..."
A second felt like eternity until I said the last number.
"One!"
Everyone began running.
I dashed with my full speed but I forgot for a moment that the old man was indeed an "old man" so of course, he was running slower than me.
I had no choice but to go back and hold his hand but the bad guys were just as fast too.
Before I even knew it, my life began to flashback right before my eyes as the reflection of the blade was about to stab me below... Or so I thought.
"Old man..! You!"
"It's alright... I stopped it so attack him now!" He was stopping the knife from stabbing his abdomen while also trying to hold the guy.
"But..!"
"Just attack him already! I'll be alright!" His face contorted into a soft smile.
In the following moments, my body moved by its own. Breaking the face of the guy who was being held by the old man for trying to stab us.
Then I gave another hit on that person again and took away its knife.
The last bad guy behind him was just waiting there to pound on me but before he could even move, I tackled him and messed up his face too hard that I doubt he's still breathing... Yep, he's still breathing.
"Old man! Are you alright? Were you stabbed?!" I went back to where the old man was currently standing.
He smiled awkwardly at me and asked. "I'm fine. I already prepared myself if this kind of thing will happen again. I can't afford to lose either you or Airi anymore, you know... I won't be dying anytime soon. So uh, any idea on where Airi is?"
"About that..."
I don't really have no idea.
We lost Airi and the blonde because of these guys.
I have to think of something...
If I'm a rapist and a kidnapper and it's already the end of the world, where should I go with my hostage? Given that I'm itching to violate her already, where is the place I'm likely to go? It can't be that far because I can't wait any longer. I don't look like that rich to have a car too...
If I have to take a hostage, it should be on a quiet and desolated place nearby... And the only quiet and desolated place near here that I know is...
"So what? You just watched me here snoring for like hours or something?"
"Not really. I went on a closed arcade downtown to kill some time. If you only see how empty that place is... Look. I even got a lot of free tickets and tokens that I stole. Here, take it."
A flashback of an earlier conversation with a friend suddenly popped up on my mind as I think deeply.
"They might be there..." I softly mentioned.
"To where?"
"Just follow me."
I really doubt my deduction skills but this is all we have to rely on... We can't just ask these unconscious people nor wait for them to wake up. We can't afford to lose any more time so it's now or never.
ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー
I thought this was too good to be real but yeah, I was right. Airi and the blonde were both at the arcade.
Three times in a row that I found her on unusual yet, very convenient places. Weird coincidences.
Imagine how awkward it would be if I was wrong hahaha... No. This isn't the right time for me to be making jokes.
When we arrived at the place, we hid behind the arcade machines as to not alert them.
Fortunately though, they were speaking so loud that made it for us easier to locate where they were without making noise.
However, unfortunately, when we were standing behind the scene where the voices were from, we saw a horrid sight. The old man too had his mouth opened because he was petrified on what he's currently seeing right in front of him.
Airi was screaming for help as she's being rawdogged by the blonde from behind...
We're already late.
I was shaking and I felt like all the blood in me just went straight into my head.
"Hey, what are you doing ー?!" I'm sorry, old man.
Unable to suppress our anger, I sprinted towards them and stabbed the blonde from behind.
"You motherfu ー!!!" He was surprised but couldn't hit back because he's in a very awkward position as of the moment so I grabbed this opportunity to put an end on his life.
I did it not just once but a lot of times until I finally finished him for good.
"For the old man's wife!"
Another stab on his left eye.
"And for Airi!"
Then on his right eye.
"And for Miyano-san!"
And lastly, on his forehead. Surprisingly, the knife went inside it so easily.
It's all over now.
I looked at the old man who was still hiding behind the arcade machine and then to Airi who was half-naked and blankly staring at me. Both of them haven't absorbed what just happened yet until it slowly sunk into their heads.
"You just killed a person..."
I think I have to do a lot of explanation after this.
But you know what, no matter what I do now, it won't matter anymore.