The night was very long, Tamashi hardly slept for hours thinking back to the conversation he had with his grandfather. Just the thought that many things that happened in the past and happened before him all had an explanation.
Somehow he manages to fall asleep and wakes up early in the morning.
"Is it morning already? I think I slept very little last night. I have to hurry, I have to go to school in an hour" the boy said getting out of bed as quickly as possible.
Tamashi will have breakfast, shower, get dressed and go to school. He was generally a boy who didn't like the school environment very much. Even if he was very good and had very high grades even if he studied little, he never had study as a passion. However, many envied him for his simple but at the same time effective appearance of him. He had black hair that was not too long, green eyes and was very athletic.
He arrived at the school gate and heard a voice behind him.
"Tamashi… Tamashi are here" was Izumi, Tamashi's classmate. They met 2 years ago and became friends pretty soon. Tamashi has always had a crush on her but actually he never told her for fear that she wouldn't accept him, but that's another story...
"So what's up? We haven't seen each other for a while due to our busy schedules," Tamashi said.
"Yeah, that's actually true. But now school has started again so it's not a problem anymore," Izumi said with a big smile that made Tamashi blush.
Izumi was one of the nicest girls Tamashi has ever met in his life. She was kind to everyone and her always good mood was often compared to a walk under the trees in spring. She wasn't too tall but not too short either, she had long blonde hair, blue eyes and always wore a necklace with 3 pearls.
"The hours are about to start, we should hurry," Izumi said.
"Yeah, let's go," Tamashi replied.
Meanwhile Chojiro, Fuhito and Akira also arrived, three great friends of Tamashi that he hasn't seen again for a long time. All together they entered the classroom.
The lesson wasn't very long, but Tamashi didn't follow much for two reasons. It was a subject that he had already partly studied and the thoughts of the night had not yet vanished. He himself knew he had to do something but at the same time he didn't want to risk his life. He would cause a problem for grandpa and a of other people.
However the hours passed and somehow the school day was over. Tamashi said goodbye to Izumi and his friends and went home. However, on the way home, Tamashi decided to take a detour from the road. The road that would take him to the forest where that strange man said he "lived".
"Shit, I'm probably crazy. I don't know how it's happening to me these days but I feel I need to know. I'm risking my life going into the middle of a forest with a killer who wants to kill me… I must really be crazy. But I'm almost there now, it's useless to go back" Tamashi said entering more and more into the forest.
During the trip Tamashi bought a knife at a supermarket. He doesn't know how much he could serve them, but somehow in case of danger he at least has something to defend himself.
"I'm there, I've arrived, I'm completely in the middle of the forest. I don't know how to make one of those 5 feel me. There must also be some dangerous animals... damn, what I'm doing" said Tamashi scared.
The boy's hesitation was high but his doubts were immediately filled by a presence that appeared behind him almost without hearing him. Tamashi knew he had someone behind him but he didn't have the courage to turn around.
"Who is there?" Tamashi said.
"You're not smart boy, this is the most dangerous area in the whole forest. I don't think a knife used to cut meat will do so much things" said a strange voice behind him.
Tamashi immediately recognized the voice, it was the same as that of the man who killed Ryo. Yes, now he remembers, it's him. Gathering courage, Tamashi turns and it was him, still with the Katana in its scabbard.
"Well, you could be hired as a producer of Horror games you know, you're really scary" exclaimed Tamashi trying to calm the situation.
"Few jokes. Why did you come here? Do you want revenge for your friend? I'm ready to challenge you whenever you want" said the masked man.
"No, I'm not here to challenge you.
I'm here because I need answers and only you can give them to me" Tamashi said.
"I see..." the man said, looking around several times.
"This is not a good place to talk, follow me. I won't hurt you"
Even if Tamashi was still very wary, he was there and couldn't go back. He followed the man and the two entered a cave. It was a cave with fire lights, meat, food, tools etc… it looked like something from before christ.
"Well, here we are safe from possible attacks. Speak, what are your questions," said the man.
"I think I understand why we're here. The government is looking for you, right?" Tamashi said.
"Perceptive. They told you something then"
"They told me that you are wanted by the government for years because you refused to become souls and went against modern technology. Kill souls with your weapons to keep the balance between the world and the afterlife stable" Tamashi said.
"Yes, it's true, it's completely true. My group and I refused to join modern technology. The world was created according to a logic by God, the human being is breaking that logic. There is a thread between life and death, between reality and something above reality. The cycle of existence is something that has been going on for billions of years, even before anything was created. This is the "perfection", what makes life an infinite cycle. My job is to keep this cycle stable by killing enough people to leave this pure world. I know, it may seem cruel, but is there anything not cruel in this world?" the man said, leaving Tamashi surprised.
"But not the whole part of the story has been told to you"
"In what sense?" Tamashi said.
"You have never wondered why today the number of births and at the same time the number of "deaths" has increased considerably. You have never wondered how it is possible to "die" if you are "souls". Well, there is a big explanation behind all of this. The government… people don't know anything about this, voluntarily, many people are paid by the government to remain silent, some people are shut down and others have decided to follow a certain policy that follows the decisions of the government with their eyes closed. The truth is, this high percentage of "deaths" is caused by the government. You are souls, you cannot die, you transcend the cycle of life and death. In fact all those people who are "dead" really aren't. In these last hundreds of years, technology has made giant leaps, more leaps than normal… now comes the really funny part of the story… all the so called "dead" people, have been captured by the government. A soul cannot die, but it can provide energy. Souls with a very high amount of energy are used to drain enough energy to create new technologies, for government purposes. Some people are also turned into monsters through this great use of their soul energy. Sounds very interesting don't you think? Captured people, used to provide energy and transformed into monsters. It is for this reason that the number of births has increased more and more, to produce basically infinite energy. When we kill souls, we purify them of their energy, allowing them to ascend to heaven or hell, keeping the balance stable. It is for this reason that we are a problem, from the largest and most experienced government fighters and generals. After hearing this story, who do you think is the bad guy, us or them?"
Tamashi couldn't believe everything he had just heard. It was so surreal that he didn't want to believe it, but the man's words seemed true. Why would he have reason to kill random people? Surely there is a motivation behind all of this, and here it is…
"I can only see you right now because I'm touching my sword, a sacred weapon. If I remove my hand from the sword, I can no longer see or feel you. As long as any part of my body touches my sword, I am able to see you. However, I am not able to touch you, only my sword is capable of piercing your soul" said the man.
"Well, our conversation is over, I have some important missions to carry out. I hope all this has clarified your ideas" while the man takes off his mask and hood revealing the face of a boy around the age of 25 with blond hair.
"This is my face, so you'll be able to recognize me if we somehow meet in the future"
"Goodbye"
"Wait… I want to join your team," Tamashi said before the man left.
"hehe, maybe I expected it, maybe not. What would lead you to do such a thing. Fame? Power?" the man said.
"No, I just want to get to the truth. There is still one thing that I have not discovered and after listening to the story I am determined to go through with it" said Tamashi.
"We'll talk again. You know where I live by now, don't tell anyone"
"And you said I was special. You still haven't told me the reason for this" Tamashi reminded the man.
The man smiled and walked away without answering, leaving Tamashi in the middle of the forest. He will return home and now he will be determined to discover everything that has been hidden from him for years. What he understood is that there is no predefined truth, someone acts according to his "ideals". He will take action to put an end to this.