Kousuke couldn't speak or utter even a small grunt from the shock he was in, his mouth was gaped open but nothing could come out. It was silent and quivering in fear at the sight of Akane bleeding on top of him, having used herself as a human shield. When he died he wasn't scared, but relieved, he thought he escaped his misery, that death was a way out of everything that made him feel pain and disappointment.
But seeing Akane in the same condition he was in at that time, hit him hard, it wasn't the same feeling he had when he nosedived into the car and rolled on to the street. This feeling that came over him was one he didn't think he would project at all in both lifetimes, the fear of death.
'Is this some joke? Is this just all in my head like some bad dream. Come on, get up Akane, get up, you can't go out like this. You're better than this get-up, please get up!' He shouted in his head as loud as the inner voice could boom, he wanted to say it out loud but he couldn't muster up the strength to say it.
His new Mother, the one who cared and loved him and tried to help him with changing his personality and way of thinking on life was a meat shield hovering over his tiny body. His quivering hands shook her, Kousuke tried everything to get her to wake up, his eyes starting to leak as he furiously shook hoping to see a flicker in her eyelids at most. He was scared for her, not for himself or his safety, no, he didn't even consider his safety right now, he was considering hers.
'Wake up! Don't you dare go out like this! You still have so much to live for. I still haven't thanked you properly yet for everything you done or called you Mom either. So wake up right now! Don't leave me just yet!'
The pale lady danced with the glee or serial killer as made her toward Kousuke. She was humming to herself in a macabre whimsical tone, an eerie, evil manner of singing, tiptoeing in a dance while admiring the destruction she caused with her face red with fulfillment. She made her way to the families, Yue wanted to stop her, but the pale lady waved her finger in a 'no no' gesture, followed by her blowing a strong breath in their direction, knocking them all back to the wall. The Shirayukis kept up the barrier despite the blow to them. They had to in order to keep Mana and kids safe.
"No no, no interfering ladies, I haven't finished my game yet with these two. I'll start another with you when I'm down." The pale lady said with a mischievous tone giggling. She looked at Kousuke next with a widened smile flashing her pearly white teeth as they were being licked by her long elongated tongue. Kousuke wanted to defend himself, summon his magic at least to distract so someone could save him and Akane. He tried to will his body to fight back, but he was too terrified to use his abilities, if they would even work at the moment with his mental state as it was.
Reality was kicking in, he could actually die again, after finally being happy with himself and enjoying the people in his new life it was going to end again just like that. He started to dry heave, he was having a strong panic attack. Everything he saw look like it was spinning and distorted, his heart race was high and the sweat pouring from his body was cold. He didn't want to die, not again, after he promised to try better with his life since the laser tag game. The pale lady made her way to spot, with a flick from her foot she kicked Akane off Kousuke like she was a soccer ball in a disrespectful manner, happy with her actions as Akane's body launched into the wall, the impact cracking the structure.
"Goal!" The pale lady exclaimed waving her hands about. Akane's battered body slowly slide down the wall as small streaks of her blood smeared up against it. She than looked at Kousuke next, her blue lips with a widened joker smile, her cold delicate hands caressing Kousuke's face, his head still manically shaking in terror.
"Hehe thought you could reincarnate and there not be a price. Silly boy, that wasn't a free pass you got. Your life belongs to my Master hehe."
Kousuke's eyes shivered as the cold sweat poured down more. She knew he was reborn, more so she said he was chosen to be resurrected for her Master. He couldn't move still, Kousuke couldn't think of an option to escape or fight back, the anxiety and fear he felt overcame his sense of movement and thinking, he was begging in his heart for help, any help at all.
'This is real. Is this really happening? No, I don't want to die again. I want to live. I wanna live this time. I don't want to give up my second life. I don't want to leave everyone now that I finally have a real friend and people in my life who are important to me. Someone, anyone, help please. Save me, save….save my Mom.'
The pale lady wiped a tear of his face and sucked it off her finger. His terror was a drug to her. She wanted to indulge more but she had to look up as she felt a small burning shot hit her cheek from behind. Kousuke look to see were it came from as he didn't do that. His eyes slowly shifted to see where the shot came from, he couldn't believe what he saw standing with determination and strong willpower to fight back despite the pain coursing all over her body ruthlessly.
He saw Akane standing up, she was shaking badly, every fiber in her pain was screaming in agony from the pain it was in, she was more injured than he thought, bleeding from her head with one eye closed from the blood pouring down her face, the other parts of her body bruised and cut. The fact she was standing at all was a testament to her will to protect her child at all costs. She didn't give a damn if she would fall, long as Kousuke was safe it would be all worth it. She held a hand out with a small flame forming in her palm, the other hand holding her trembling arm steady by the wrist so she wouldn't miss again.
"Get away from him you b***h!" She shouted as she fired another shot of flame at the pale lady. The shot missed again, her sense of aim was completely off with only one eye working.
The pale lady laughed at the miserable display in front of her, the defiance Akane was showing was no threat, she saw Akane as a bug that needed to be squashed and she would give the mercy kill. Akane fired again, the pale lady dodged the shots in a fairy-like movement, like she was floating in the air just laughing wickedly as the shots didn't even get close to her now. Her face was in front of Akane's now, still with that evil smile as her eyes stared down Akane's one good open eye.
"Tsk tsk, no cheating by pretending to be dead. My game my rules old woman." The pale lady insulted Akane's determination. She proceeded to stab Akane in the stomach with her razor sharp finger nails, Akane tried to hang on, she refused to fall when her enemy was just a inch in front of her. Akane threw punches, head-butts, even tried to choke the pale lady, anything to hurt her with the little strength she had. The pale lady responded by stabbing Akane again, deeper than she did before, Akane tried to stay strong to protect her son from the psychopath before her. She pulled out her comment knife and stabbed back, the pale lady laughed as pain was pleasurable to her, being stabbed was a mere tickle for her body.
The pale lady stabbed again too in repsponse, Akane spit in her face showing she wasn't afraid, she bit into the neck of the pale lady. Even though she was doing her best as a Mother could in protecting her child it was no were near enough, the deeper the fingers went the more Akane was losing strength, and the pale lady knew it
"Game over." The pale lady told Akane as flicked Akane on the forehead with her free hand, the flick was strong enough to knock Akane's head back. Akane couldn't stand anymore, the pain and bloodloss was too much now, her body finally gave out to the pain and fell to the ground. She tumbled down in a pool of her own blood from the wounds she was inflicted with. All the effort she put in wasn't enough to keep her standing tall anymore. Everyone who wasn't dead saw her fall. The valiant display she showed made them cry in admiration for her brave spirit. Mana was holding back her tears as she shield the girls in her arms still, covering their eyes so they wouldn't see what happened.
The pale lady licked the blood on her fingertips looking down at the beaten Akane. She giggled still at how much fun it was hurting Akane the way she did, a real treat to her on how much resistance she was met with. To the pale lady, crushing one who was weaker than her was fun like a kid opening a Christmas gift.
Her head than turned all the way around to look at Kousuke in an exorcist-style pose. The sound of her bones cracking from the violent head spin and her skin stretching was something not easily replicated in horror films with that much realism to it.
Kousuke couldn't stop shaking, the pale lady was having too much fun screwing with his head with her funny games.
"Now were where we. Oh yes, time for you to come with me, dead boy. Ankou awaits your arrival."
Her body twisted back around to realign her head with it in a normal manner, her eyes piercing Kousuke's soul.
Kousuke was in a complete mental lock. This wasn't the life he was expecting to have, not the Isekai ideal life he saw in all his media watching. He wanted a peaceful life, he wanted to redo everything better than he did before. How stupid he felt, his sheer arrogance once again let him get into this position without thinking of the consequences and the evil enemies in it. All the manga he read, and all the anime he watched, he forgot those details because he was too focused on thinking he was handed a silver platter by random luck never once thinking if there was a real price for these gifts. The pale lady was ready to head to him, doing a dancing routine were she stood with a sing-song tune to go with the dance, just to add salt to the mental wound in him.
"I'm gonna get you, don't say a word, I'm gonna get you, not another breath to be heard. I'm gonna get you, you silly little kid, I'm gonna get you, your soul you will bid." Her dancing and singing almost made him puke from the anticipation of knowing he was going to reach his end. The pale lady only moved about a foot from her spot when she was stopped abruptly, she looked to see Akane, still alive, holding her by the ankle with her last remaining strength lingering.
"Oh, still not dead yet. You're more fun than I expected. Hmm, I know how bout we play skin the cat and see how many lives you really got left hehe." The pale lady laughed with her smile widening with evil intent, her sharp fingernails held up ready to skin Akane alive like she promised.
"Nah, I got a game for you, it's called Finale." Akane with her last bit of adrenaline strength she mustered jumped up and wrapped her arms around the pale lady. She slammed her knife straight into her spinal chord for extra leverage in holding her. The pale lady felt the tightness of the hold and the blade in her back, the grip on her was strong, she couldn't break free even with stabbing Akane over and over again. She wasn't having fun anymore, now she was mad because she wasn't getting her way just like a spoiled child.
"You dumb old woman, let me go. This isn't the game I want to play. Let go!!" She screamed as she kept stabbing away
Akane didn't let go, she refused, she had a plan and it was unfortunately her last one ever to be made. Her body was glowing, and a powerful feeling of heat was covering her and the pale lady, the heat reaching across the area for everyone to sense what was going to happen. Akane had this move saved only as a last resort when all else failed if she was caught in a trap or surrounded by Ghasts.
The only flame magic she had made use for, a suicide bomber move. The Shirayukis strengthen the shield around them, the kids and Mana, they knew what Akane was planning, their facial expressions were filled with guilt of what was going to happen as they couldn't stop what was going to initiate next. Kousuke saw display in front of him and he didn't want to believe what Akane was going to do. Kousuke could see as Akane's body lit up like a candle from all the magic and heat engulfing her, as the pale lady shrieked in annoyance that she was going to be hurt actually by a human weaker than her.
"Let go that boy belongs to my Master! Let me go you filthy human." She demanded as she didn't want what was about to transpire to happen.
"Wrong…..that boy doesn't belong to anyone. That boy is my child….. and you can't have him."
"Curse you! YOU PIECE OF CRAP OLD WOMAN!!!" The pale lady wailed.
Akane looked at Kousuke one last time as she was ready to explode from overflow of energy in her, even with her face covered in blood and cuts, she still gave a gentle smile to her son, her most cherished treasure in all her life.
"I'm sorry Kousuke, looks like your Mama wasn't as strong as you thought she was. I'm sorry we didn't get to play another round at the laser game. Be a good boy for me and look after Mana-Haha. I love you, my miracle child. Goodbye."
Akane closed her eye still smiling with pride and love in her. Kousuke couldn't say a word to stop her or what was going to happen. All he could do was reach out to her, his tiny hand reaching out to his Mother who was protecting him to the very end.
"….Don't do it!!!" He shouted out finally as his eyes flowed with sorrowful tears.
The light emitting from Akane's body grew brighter and brighter. Soon the explosion happened as she used the magic to make suicide bomb to stop the pale lady, to save her son. Kousuke couldn't close his eyes to the sight of the explosion, he saw the flash before him as he watched as both women disappeared for a second in the light, the loud explosion going off, it was a radiant blast the shone even to the outside of the restaurant. The blast missed Kousuke, even when she blew herself up, Akane made sure her child would still be safe even if it was from. After the blast subsided, the aftermath of it was on full display, as smoke filled the area and residual heat covered all around. It was hard to see anything in that charred spot.
Till Kousuke saw the end results. Akane's body lay facedown on the ground, her body burned, beaten and lifeless, filled with the holes from all the stabbing and and her clothes tattered and singed. The fact she still looked the same with all the injures was a miracle in itself.
The pale lady was also on the ground too, she survived the blast but was horrifically burned and injured, most of her limbs were either mangled or severed, gone from the blast as she wailed like a child in her pain.
"It hurts, it hurts, it hurts, the bad lady hurt me! Help me, Nii-Sama"
'Nii-Sama?'
Kousuke saw a cloud of black smoke ominously enter the building, it devoured the area in its thick appearance. Emerging from the smoke was a thin, gangly young man in a tattered overcoat with bug buttons on the upper left breast pocket, tattered pants with the ends torn off above the ankles, bandages on his hands, feet, and mouth with messy back and green hair walking to the pale lady.
"There there little Shiina, there there. You came too early, you're lucky I found you. Orgullo isn't going to like you running off on your own. Let's go home. Our time is up for now." The gangly man said rubbing Shiina's head to calm her down. He picked up the Shiina holding her in his arms like a baby, he then gazed at Kousuke with his dirty yellow eyes like he was a diseased leper. He had a sickly voice tone, even with the bandages on his mouth his tone could be heard clearly, the sick voice feeling like his breath could infect a person with a bad disease.
"We'll be back for you boy. Your soul belongs to Master Ankou. After all, they were the ones who summoned you. Be good now and don't die till we come for you again when we get the chance. See ya kiddo." The gangly man said before disappearing in the black smoke with the pale lady along with him.
Kousuke couldn't believe what he saw or even heard. But all that meant nothing, not at the moment with what he was feeling. He looked at the ground where Akane lay, Kousuke wanted to move, he wanted to walk over to where Akane was. He couldn't though, it felt like his body was chained down with invisible shackles around his neck. Instead, his body fell forward to the ground, his arms hitting the floor first as his fists slammed them repeatedly, his forehead slamming on the floor as well in shame. His eyes were overflowed with tears that wouldn't stop. It wasn't tears of fear anymore or anxiety, it was a feeling he thought he never could feel at all, the feeling of a child losing a parent so young and so tragically.
'Idiot! You stupid idiot! Why didn't you say something? Why didn't you stop her? Why didn't you appreciate her more? Why did it take a tragedy to make you realize how much she truly meant to you!"
The tears wouldn't stop. The pain in his chest wouldn't go away. The memories of Akane holding when he was a baby, putting him on her shoulders when they played together. The best one was when she got him to play at the arcade, breaking his habit of wanting to stay in his room and taking steps to be more active, the biggest help in him fixing his personality from his old one. Mana, who awoke from being knocked out by the aftershock finally saw her partner's body on the ground, she cried hard as the Shirayukis tried to comfort her from her loss. Itsuki awoke seeing the horrid imagery too, her hands covering her mouth when she saw Akane. She then looked to se Kousuke, she wanted to say something, anything to help him from wallowing in pain. She didn't do anything however, Itsuki couldn't figure out how to help him, she was a kid, and there was nothing in her mind that could figure out how to help him without making it worse by accident. All she could do was see him cry and he kept hitting the ground with his hands, his voice crying out in agony, the wailing stopping as the first word he said with honesty and genuine feeling in his heart came out. The one word he never said to Akane, that he regretted badly now that it was too late. He stuttered in trying to pronounce, but he wanted to say it even once, he wanted to finally call her what she wanted since her could.
"…Kaa….Kaa-San."