Carved with curses, the man whose name was still a mystery to Akira and his group was now forgotten by the world, including the ones who cursed him as well. Already on their way to meet with Akane and Yuuko, they weren't there to witness the phantom of a man as he awoke from his unexpected slumber.
The marks on his skin; invisible even to him, the man knew not who he was as he'd been erased from his own memories as well. Looking around, he knew nothing of this world for along with his memories, his experiences too had been stripped.
'What am I?' He wondered, but alas nobody could listen and nobody would answer.
The longer he wandered around the house, the more his angst grew as the effects of sudden amnesia began to settle in. First came the nervous sweat from lacking a name, a body, or even a purpose. Then after he wandered out of the house and stepped into the open world, the expansive scope of it all crushed him like an ant.
There was so much all around him, and yet he was no part of it. The world has scrubbed him off its memory, leaving him alone to wander aimlessly for a purpose or even a reason for his existence.
'What the hell am I?! Where am I?!' Such questions haunted him at every step, and with time that dread was only bound to grow some more.
Having no clue if he was a man, a woman, a child, or a monster, he kept wandering down the streets trying to find someone to help him figure out what he was. However, no matter whom he tried to ask, his questions were always ignored. Growing ever so desperate, he chased anyone he felt could help him with his dilemma. Alas, when nobody listened, he even tried to end his suffering only to end up phasing through the traffic like a phantom.
Cursed to wander, and cursed to live aimlessly with no means to end his suffering, the man settled in a dark corner wallowing up in his misery.
***
"A hotel, really? What are you playing at?" Unsurprisingly suspicious, Akane had plenty of doubts as I led her to a room with Hibiki and the demons in tow.
"You'll know soon," stopping by the room we'd rented, I turned to look at her one last time before going in.
Dressed in a pair of casual shorts and t-shirt she appeared much more carefree than usual. It almost suited her more than the track outfit that hugged her skin a little too tight. For a moment as I looked at her, our eyes met and urged us both to shy away for reason. It wasn't discomfort that we felt, instead, it was something far more nefarious.
"Are we going in?" Leaning against my body from the back, Mizuki rested her head on my shoulders. "Or are you two gonna keep gawking at each other?"
"Shut up," pushing her head off, I twisted the doorknob.
'I guess I never saw Akane in that light, but perhaps there was something there.' Shaking my head, I marched into the room.
The others followed seconds later and came up to the sight of Miss Yuuko all alone inside the place. Still dressed in her work clothes, she was sweating profusely. The jitter in her legs and the tapping of her fingers were sure signs of her discomfort the moment she saw our party marched inside.
"A-Akane?! Hibiki?!" Gulping her fear, she glanced over to the two demons standing right behind us. "A-and…What the hell are they?!"
"Daichi, what the hell is this?!" Unaware of what we had planned, Akane turned just as frightful as Yuuko.
"Just an attempt to make the scales of karma balance themselves," locking the door behind me, I hinted to Mizuki to get everything prepared.
Flying over to Yuuko, she grabbed her by the face.
Borrowing the power of the lord of delusion, she made her hand spurt out a hoard of tentacles that forced themselves down Yuuko's throat to shut her mouth once and for all.
"What the fuck are you doi-" Grabbing Akane by the arm as she attempted to get closer to Yuuko, I pulled her closer to face me eye to eye.
"She knew about everything, about Hero, and the drugs, and yet she did nothing," the moment I revealed it to her, her eyes widened in shock. "Those performance enhancers in your locker, who knows maybe she knew about that ordeal too? What about Satori and her suicide, what about my suicide? Call it butterfly effect or whatever, but she could've stopped it all just as much as she was part of it!"
My nails digging deep in Akane's arms, I felt my heart beating like a fiery piston. Drawing a deep breath, I slowly loosened my grip on Akane so she could have a moment to think things through herself.
"She can be our first step to bringing this whole thing to a halt," curling my fingers into a fist, I turned my attention back to Yuuko. "Hero, Kimura, even those cheerleaders who caused you to lose your chance at the national as well as a better education later on…We can make them all pay for their crimes."
Laid unconscious from a lack of oxygen from the tentacles overwhelming her air tract, Yuuko now lay there on the bed while Mizuki rewrites her mind to be a slave to my command. Even as she worked to that end, I could already see Yuuko's love meter climbing up while still unconscious.
"I-I…" Hearing Akane speak once more, I turned to look at her again. "I'll help."
Although still seeming a bit doubtful, those numb eyes of hers told me everything that she went through in her mind. Reminding her of what tragedy we'd been subjected to had helped her make the decision. After all, none of these monsters deserve our sympathy at all.
"The final step," Mizuki exclaimed, flipping over Yuuko's body. "She's a level eight on your love meter now, Akira, that's as far as I can manipulate her to be. But…"
Lifting Yuuko's coat a little, Mizuki ran her fingers over her exposed back until she reached her hips.
"I can place a 'Mark of the Owner' on her, and she wouldn't be able to deny you anything," conjuring her inkwell spider, Mizuki placed its needles on Yuuko's skin.
"Do it," to my surprise and the surprise of the others, it was Akane who replied in kind.
Washing her look of shock, Mizuki shot me a glance for confirmation.
'Do it.' Relaying it to her through my thoughts, I nodded.