6 - Oskar Weber’s Grief

Oskar returned to the gym, where everyone else was. No one really said anything.

“How is she?” Hayk asked, breaking the silence.

“Devastated, just like all of us.” Oskar replied, taking his time trying to get his words out. “Ausra is staying with her.”

“Good.” Hayk said, leaning his head on his hands.

“...”

“Look, are we a hundred percent sure that he is dead? What if he’s missing?”

“Oskar, please stop it.” Rin said. “If he wasn’t dead, he’d find a way to contact us.”

“And what if they kidnapped him or something? What if they’re torturing him?!”

“Impossible.” Hayk said. “They have better duties than to torture him.”

“In that case...” Oskar’s voice eventually faded away.

“I’m sorry, but this is our reality.” Rin said. “Coping or denying the facts are just going to create an even worse mess in your head. Sakuto is dead.”

“Right...”

“...”

“So, what now?” Oskar asked.

“What do you mean?” Hayk was confused.

“I mean, what do we do now?” Oskar asked, more aggressively. “When’s our next operation? When do we get back at them?”

“We don’t.” Hayk said, taking a deep breath. “Academy’s opening in a few days. They’ll have maximum security everywhere. The Heisei, Kaito himself...we have to lay low for now.”

“No, we don’t.” Oskar said. “If we lure them out, separate them, and take them down efficiently, there won’t be any problems. We’ll manage.”

“Oskar, you don’t know what you’re talking about.” Hayk objected, raising his tone. “We need to lay low.”

“Am I the only one who actually got affected by his death?” Oskar exclaimed. “Am I the only one who actually wants to fucking do something?! They got him, so we’ll get them! It’s simple!”

“Right, because I know nothing.” Hayk said. “You’ll go on and fight all those demons. Good luck, buddy. I’ll make sure to put your gravestone next to Sakuto’s.”

“You can do it though!” Oskar yelled.

Everyone got somewhat startled by that statement.

“You know damn well that you can fight the Heisei!” Oskar said. “You’re the strongest here, and you’re stronger than most of our enemies by a long shot! All we have to do is fight them, and you don’t want to?”

“Someone explain to this idiot that I don’t want all of you to die one by one-”

“And what makes us so privileged?!” Oskar yelled as loud as he could, interrupting Hayk. “Did you want to see Sakuto go too? Or did you not give two craps about what happened to him? If you wanted to keep all of us alive, you already failed, look at Sakuto, look at...fucking...Tsunehiro! One’s on death’s door and the other one already crossed it!”

“Oskar, please.” Dima said. “I understand that you’re mad, and you want revenge, but this is not the way to do it.”

“You don’t understand shit.” Oskar said. “You also want to play it safe, but only for yourself.” Dima got annoyed by that comment.

“Oskar.” Rin approached him and put her hands on his shoulders. “Listen to me, okay?”

“If you’re gonna tell me that-”

“Just listen to me.” Rin interrupted him, her voice sounded gentle and truly caring. “We will get revenge. I promise that to you, okay? We will get revenge. But we have to wait for a few days so they’re at their weakest, and we are at our strongest.”

“Right...”

“Just wait. Use these few days to train and get stronger, okay?” Rin said. “Please. You’ve made your choice at heart, but don’t discard your mind while carrying it out. Be smart about this.”

“You’re right. We should start planning as soon as possible.” Oskar said. “I’ll go get Kouta.”

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“Don’t.”

“Why?”

“He’s...”

“Never been as devastated as he is right now.”

“It’s one thing to lose everything...but it’s another to lose everything again, after regaining hope.”

“Right...I understand.” Oskar said, awkwardly and aimlessly walking around the gym. “I’ll go get some fresh air now, if you don’t mind...” he said before abruptly leaving.

“The kid had a point, you know?” Rin told Hayk after Oskar left. She sounded rather upset with him.

“Just drop the topic.” Hayk said. He was lost in thought.

Outside, it was sunny. So sunny, in fact, that the world seemed to be perfectly joyful. There was no longer a stain of a cloud layer ruining everything, covering the warmth with its grayness and disgusting, weird nature.

He sat down by the entrance and looked up into the sky.

“You were honest with me.”

“You told me how you sometimes felt like you didn’t want to live anymore.”

“I thought I’d prepared myself for the day you wouldn’t be here anymore, be it by your own hands or by anything else.”

He covered his face, his eyes slowly filling up with tears.

“It hasn’t even been that long, but...”

“I miss your dumbass already.”

“Gotta act rational.” Oskar said to himself through his shaky voice. “Gotta lay low for a while before taking action.”

“You had people that cared about you, you know?”

“Just look down...or up, if you ended up in hell...and look at what state we’re in.”

“And yet, we couldn’t really help you, could we?”

Dima approached him and sat down next to him. Oskar was taken aback, so he quickly wiped his eyes.

“I get it, man. It’s hard.” Dima said. “But you gotta concentrate.”

“Concentrate on what?” Oskar asked. “My friend just got killed. Man, he wasn’t even a friend, he was more like a...a brother to me, you know what I mean? We did the craziest shit back then, talked about the craziest things...”

“It is what it is.” Dima said, taking a cig out of his pocket and lighting it on fire. “This is the type of life that we live. People come and go.”

“You’re wrong.” Oskar said. “There’s no other Sakuto I can think of.”

“You’ll make new friends eventually.”

“That’s not how it works.” Oskar said.

“You lose people, but eventually, new people come into your life. It’s all a cycle, man. It’s sometimes best to just turn your nerves off and go with it.”

“I can’t...” Oskar said. “I’m not like you. I’m more like him, if anything else.”

“And what does that mean?”

“I think about things a lot. Too much, if I’m honest. I think about things that are sometimes painful to think about. And sometimes, I realize that some things in life just won’t happen or won’t be repaired, and it makes sense, and I overthink it, and everything goes to shit and I feel like throwing up...”

“You’re overthinking this.” Dima said.

“Proves my point.” Oskar sighed. “Dima, you got any mint candy? My stomach is acting up.”

“Nope.” Dima said. “Go ask the rest.”

“Right...”

Oskar went back into the gym.

“Anyone here got mint candy? Or chewing gum, or something like that...” Oskar said. “I don’t feel like going to the store.”

“I don’t think anyone does.” Ausra replied. “You’d do us a favor if you bought some for us as well...especially for Kouta.”

“Damn...” Oskar sighed, continuing with a bitter tone. “That asshole Diego was popping mints all the time, made me want some. I’ll buy a few packs." He was close to heading out again, but a sudden command stopped him.

“Wait.” Hayk ordered. “What did you just say? Diego was taking...mint candy?”

“Yeah. The guy probably kisses a dozen different women every day.” Oskar said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he ate a bottle per day. He ate at least two when I was with him.”

“What did they look like?” Hayk asked.

“Huh?”

“The mint candy, Oskar. What did it look like?” Hayk asked. A second later, Rin also figured it out. Something was off. “Describe them.”

“A little pale and yellowish maybe?” Oskar said. “He took them from a white bottle and tossed them into his mouth. Why...are you asking me that?”

“Oskar...” Hayk said, a glimmer of hope sparking in his eyes. “He probably spends half his life taking care of his health and appearance. You really think he'd have the need to pop mints all the time?”

[3 DAYS LATER]

“Ausra, I’m going out.” Ichika said.

“Why?”

“I need to get some fresh air.” Ichika said, heading for the exit.

“Wait.” Ausra stopped her. “Are you going to do anything stupid?”

“I’m going out.” Ichika said, leaving before Ausra could say or do anything. “Just need some time alone, okay?” She said from the outside, her voice barely loud enough to be heard by her friend.

“On this day, at this exact time?” Ausra asked. “During the soulful academy’s opening ceremony? You decide to go for a walk?”

“I said I’m going for a walk.” Ichika turned around, throwing a hateful yet cold and determined gaze at her.

“Should I trust you?”

“It’s up to you.” Ichika said, walking away.

“I feel like I can actually make a difference now. It took your death to make me stronger...”

“Watch me, Sakuto.”

“I’m doing this for you.”