Kanesaki stood up, silent. His face was bruised from the fighting earlier, a small cut on his cheek bled slightly. His hair was messy too, covering his empty eyes as he looked down at Akio. The Yatzul was still in combat with Oki and 344, they had it on the defensive. He looked up to the ceiling and sighed.
'Akio... I didn't know you for too long, but I had a feeling we could've grown to be friends; brothers, even. Why'd you have to go and leave so soon, I was starting to like you.'
He looked back down at the officer, his lifeless body lay still on the ground.
'Damn it!'
Kanesaki got on his knees and smashed the ground next to the body with his fist, causing cracks to form. He started to scream in both anger and sadness, both towards Akio and Hanaka.
'Why did you have to leave me on my own! Now I'm stuck with people who hate me! Why!!!'
He smashed the ground over and over until his hits grew weaker and slower, until he was reduced to just sitting on his knees with his hands on his face, tears rolling down his cheek. 'Damn it... Damn it, Damn it, Damn it, Damn it, Damn it, Damn it...'
He continued to say the same words until he just went silent, sitting in his sorrow. The Yatzul roared out, alerting him and reminding him of what had killed Akio. Looking over to it, his eyes looked like that of a man succumbed to anger and pain. He had realised why Chimera weren't meant to have emotions; they felt them stronger than humans if given the opportunity. After all, Chimera aren't supposed to be humans. But they're not monsters, aliens, robots, demons or anything like that.
Above all, Chimera are weapons.
His pupils shrunk to be little dots, his eyes appeared a dark shade of purple, semi-violet. He got back up and drew his weapon again, dashing towards the Yatzul, seemingly vanishing. He appeared again before the creature could react and, with one quick swing of the blade, decapitated the Yatzul. 344 and Oki looked on in amazement, the monster's head flying through the air as the main body fell, it's arms going limp.
Kanesaki sheathed the blade within himself and turned to face the two. They saw his eyes and stepped back; 344 snarled slightly. 'Officer Tadashi, I've seen those eyes before... He's undergoing the cracking.' Oki glanced over, eyes widening in suprise. 'What!?' Kanesaki walked towards them slowly, his eyes slowly returning to normal as his body felt weaker and weaker with each step. The two watched as he collapsed suddenly. Oki went to help him up but was held back by 344.
'Leave him.'
'Why, we should take him to the lab.'
344 looked at the officer with cautious eyes. 'I'm telling you, officer we should leave him. It's what's best for us all.' Oki looked back to Kanesaki, now unconscious. He groaned slightly and clapped his hands together. 'Okay! Grab officer Matsunaga's body and let's get out of here. Our mission here is complete. And if we're asked, Kanesaki went rogue and we had to eliminate him.' 344 nodded and walked over to pick up Akio's body.
As they started to walk off, Kanesaki lifted his head from the ground, barely conscious as he tried to call out. 'Akio... Damn it... Where are you guys going...' He reached out a hand but it fell weakly to the ground. He was alone, no one was coming to save him. Once the other two made it back to their outpost, he'd be classed as dead; and even if he did find his way back, he'd be seen as a rogue. Trying to muster up the strength to stand, he gritted his teeth, coughing heavily in pain. He wasn't sure what happened to him in the moment, but he heard 344 mention that he was "cracking". He didn't know what it meant but at that time, he didn't care. All he cared about was reaching the two before they got on a transport ship and left him.
He still struggled to stand, opting to crawl weakly across the floor, his nose picking up the stench of blood from the ground. The battle had drained him completely, now he couldn't even crawl without feeling pain. Why am I so weak!? The thoughts started to cloud his mind. It was part of the reason why he got transferred to outpost 34. He was supposed to work under lieutenant Hanaka; all Chimera leave training to work under their masters. However, he was deemed too weak to work under Hanaka and was transferred out here, in grid 34. His weakness was the reason for Akio's death, he couldn't kill the Yatzul before it got the officer. The more he thought about it, the more he started to ponder, why couldn't he have been stronger.
Eventually, he had just given up. He collapsed to the floor and laid there, quietly. He couldn't even muster up a tear in his eyes. There was nothing he could do. He was alone, abandoned by those he trusted and left with those who didn't trust him.
I'm just a broken weapon... No use, no point.
He said the same thing in his head on repeat, feeling himself plunge deeper into that feeling of sorrow. His hand formed a fist which he clenched. Staring at his fist, his teeth gritted and his eyes grew hateful, filled with emotion. Suddenly, he stood up, ignoring the pain his body was in. He coughed heavily but continued walking. His eyes darted to where Akio had died, his blood covered the area. He looked ahead again, focused on his sole mission, his new mission.
He had memorised the way out and looked up at the night sky, as well as the cavern above. He had to climb it to find the others. Somehow, with a sudden speed and strength, he reached the top in a matter of seconds by jumping from point to point. His whole body was breaking, yet he kept going. This was the sheer dedication of a Chimera with a mission. That was his strength in the moment; a mission, an objective, a purpose.
He looked over the ridge and saw the two, 344 was carrying Akio's body. His eyebrows furrowed and his eyes grew more hateful, still a deep purple colour. He had one objective; to reach the other two. He acted on his own, the master he served at the time was himself.
Chapter 8- end