9 - Parasite

The sky was cloudy, but the clouds were masked under the darkness. It was a starless night, the sky was pitch black, but the city beneath it seemed lively and content. Dozens of cars whizzed through the roads, the street lights illuminated the sidewalks, night life was only starting.

“He’s gonna come any second now.” Aleksei said, sitting on a lavishly decorated chair by his table. The interior of the restaurant was like any other, there were rows of tables, the walls were mostly made of dark oak wood, the windowsills were made of granite, the panes were stained white. Lanterns hung from the ceiling that illuminated the area better.

“Yeah, I know.” Nacht sighed, sitting on the chair next to him. “I’ll hit the restroom. Gotta take a leak.”

“Sure, just don’t disappear.” Aleksei sighed. Watching his friend leave made him a little sad. In the restaurant, almost everyone was accompanied - be it by their friend, their partner or their family.

But that loneliness didn’t last long - Sakuto entered the restaurant, and after looking around for a while, he found Aleksei’s table. He awkwardly waved at him, and approached the table.

“Good evening, man.” Aleksei said.

“Yeah...good evening.” Sakuto replied, taking his puff jacket on. He had his combat sweatpants and shirt on.

“Are you back from the gym?” Aleksei asked.

“No, I just didn’t have a suit.” Sakuto said. “The only one I had is all the way in Tokyo.”

“Ah, I understand...” Aleksei said. “We should order now. My friend is in the restroom right now, he’s taking a while so there’s a chance he’s got an upset stomach.”

“Well, that’s unfortunate.” Sakuto said.

“That means I can’t eat the food. There’s a chance he’s intercepting the order and poisoning it.”

“I know what he likes, so it shouldn’t be an issue.” Aleksei said. He called for a waiter using the small red button attached to the table. But instead of any other worker coming their way, they saw a familiar face.

“I knew I recognized you!” Jacob exclaimed, approaching their table. He quickly realized that he shouldn’t have raised his voice as much and awkwardly covered up his mouth. “What are you two doing here?”

“Just meeting up.” Sakuto said. He made sure to stare directly into Jacob’s eyes, as if trying to brute-force the narrative that he’s with a suspect through just eye contact. “Here to talk about a few things, discuss some questions.” He put specific emphasis on the last word.

“Huh...I see.” Jacob said. He got his work tablet out. “What do you guys want? I’ll make sure it’s a top priority order.”

“How long have you been here?” Aleksei asked. “Is the pay alright?”

“Eh, I can make ends meet. It is what it is.” Jacob said. “Been sweet talking the owner and doing favors for a while, might even get promoted.”

“I see. That’s good to hear, man.” Aleksei said. “How’s volleyball?”

“Going great so far. Got a tourney in a few weeks.” Jacob said. “Some scouts will be there too. Can’t wait. Well...may I take your order now?”

“We’ll have two plates of oven-cooked trout, please.” Aleksei said. “What about you, Sakuto?”

“You both enjoy the same meal?” Sakuto asked. “That’s some dedication. Oh well, I’ll have an oven-cooked sea bass in that case. And get a few cold water bottles too.”

Jacob nodded.

“Well then, I’ll try to get your meal as soon as possible, but you’ll have to wait for a bit.” Jacob said. “We’re overloaded at this time of the day.”

He gave Sakuto a subtle nod, which the latter received. A few moments of awkward silence later, a waitress came up to them and delivered the drinks.

“She was cute.” Aleksei told Sakuto after she left. “Like, really cute. Damn, you always see the prettiest girls in the most random places, not in fashion shows or beauty contests.”

“True.” Sakuto said. He, like last time, paid careful attention to Aleksei’s body language. But it seemed that the casual-ish setting and the conversation itself was starting to soften up his concentration a little. “Beauty contests are worthless.”

“Do you have a girlfriend, Sakuto?” Aleksei asked. “S-sorry if it’s a personal question, I’m just trying to steer up some conversation until he gets here.”

“At the moment, I don’t.” Sakuto said, slowly knocking his fingers against the table. He poured himself and his tablemate a glass of the water. “I assume you don’t either.”

“Hah, no, I don’t.” Aleksei said. “Well, I tried getting closer to Lily at some point, and I think things could work out...I should probably start texting her more often.”

“Is she your type? She looks similar to that waitress.”

“Kind of.” Aleksei sighed. “Lily’s a nice girl.”

“She seemed super friendly.” Sakuto said.

“But not to everyone equally.”

“Hah, yeah. Friendliness is a double-edged sword when it comes to girls.” Aleksei chuckled. “What’s your type of girl, Sakuto?”

“Appearance-wise, bangs are like a cheat code.” Sakuto said. ”And pretty eyes too, those are important.”

“Ichika...”

“Quite the choice...” Aleksei said. “Shit, do you think I’m in Lily’s league? I could lowkey come up to her and talk to her after tomorrow’s meetup.”

“Who cares about leagues?” Sakuto said. Jacob brought the three plates with fish to the table. “If you wanna shoot your shot, go for it. There’s nothing keeping you from it.”

“Ooh, some secret talk?” Jacob asked. “Mind if I join in?”

“You wanna tell me that you’re scared of talking to her because she’s too good for you?” Sakuto asked.

“Ah, it’s about Lily, isn’t it?” Jacob immediately caught on.

“Huh? You know?!” Aleksei asked, surprised.

“Dude, you two look like you’ve been lovers for years. Just ask her out already!”

“Fair enough.” Aleksei said. “Hey, I’ll ask if she’s free this weekend.”

“There ya go.” Jacob said. “I’ll give you an assist if you need to. I’m bored anyways.”

“I can help too, I guess. We’re in the same group project anyways.” Sakuto said.

“Yeah, I guess it’d be a nice change of scenery for you. You probably live a completely different life. Hell, you only need to pretend to study, don’t you?”

“Something like that.” Sakuto replied. He looked over at Jacob who seemed to be rather surprised. “It’s fine, he knows I’m in the Heisei.”

“You’re lucky in that case. I have tons of calculus, geometry and data analysis homework to do every day...” Aleksei ranted. “I wanna hit it big. Wanna get a good job at an analytics company one of my friends works at.”

“Quite ambitious.” Sakuto said. “Hey, I’m sorry, where’s your friend?”

“He should be coming over soon.” Aleksei said. “Hold on, I gotta take a leak myself. I’ll head out for a bit.”

“Go ahead.” Sakuto said. “He’s a decent guy. Hey, at least he acknowledges my existence to some degree.”

“But something’s off.”

“Jacob, did anyone come close to this plate when it was being cooked that shouldn’t have been there?” Sakuto asked. “Did anyone add something that looked odd?”

“I...I’m sorry. I didn’t see that.” Jacob replied. “My bad.”

“Hey, it’s fine.” Sakuto said. “It’s not like I was hungry anyways.” He put the fork down. “I’ve lost my appetite a few days ago anyways, haven’t had a good meal in a while.”

Aleksei returned. He saw Nacht sitting by the table and it made him smile.

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“Ah, looks like you guys are enjoying the silence.” Aleksei smiled. “I’ll start up a conversation, don’t worry.”

“Hah, I guess...” Sakuto said with a light chuckle. “I was waiting for you to return so that we can start eating. Your friend is uhh...quite late.”

“Better late than never, ain’t that right?” He said, taking a seat. “Come on, don’t be shy now.”

“Huh?” Sakuto seemed awkwardly confused. “What is he-”

“I’m glad there’s no conflict between you guys, at least. Peace triumphs.” Aleksei said, and he looked genuinely happy.

“I don’t think there ever was a conflict between me and Sakuto.” Jacob said. He seemed confused.

“And it’s not like I have a conflict with the fish either. What’s up with you?” Sakuto said, now he looked concerned.

“No, that’s not what I meant.” Aleksei said, looking to his side. “Even if you’re here for a little bit, it doesn't mean you have to sit and say nothing. You three are my friends, alright?”

“Uh...Aleksei?”

“What do you mean by that? Get yourself together, dude.” Aleksei told Nacht,upset and infuriated.

“Aleksei?”

“What?”

“Who are you talking to?”

“Huh?” Aleksei was dumbfounded. “My friend. He’s right here.”

“There’s no one there.” Sakuto said. His eye was wide open, he quickly reinforced his body. “Aleksei, there’s only the three of us.”

“No, there’s four.” Aleksei said, now he was also starting to look worried. “There’s me, you, Jacob and Na- I mean, my friend.” He corrected himself.

“What were you gonna say?” Sakuto asked, standing up. “You were gonna say “Nacht”, weren’t you?!”

“No, I swear I’m-” He suddenly got a nosebleed. He touched his nose to feel the blood,

and a moment later, a droplet of blood escaped his eye. “W-what?”

“Nacht...what are you doing?!”

His arms limped a little, before slamming themselves against the table and sweeping the plates off the table. Next up was his head, it slammed itself against the table. A moment later, he looked at Sakuto. His eyes had changed, they were much darker now. The blue became a dark blue, not a darker shade, but a blue that felt dimmed. The intent they conveyed also changed.

“Sakuto...is this who you were looking for?” Jacob asked, too shocked to move. “Is this him?”

“My gut feeling was right.” Sakuto thought. “Get outta here!” He yelled.

He quickly summoned his blade and swung it, but Aleksei, who gave off the impression of an unathletic guy, quickly got up and kicked his chair away. He dodged that and the follow-up attack. Jacob, who was still around, looked like he wanted to help. He tried to get close to Aleksei with the goal of at least holding him still.

“This was the opportunity I was waiting for.” Nacht thought.

“Assuring him to believe a lie. And once that lie is exposed, and his soul becomes unstable from the shock, I’d overthrow it.”

“Latching onto that soul...so miserable. His behavior, his lifestyle, his choices...”

“So utterly fucking pathetic.”

“Everyone leave this place immediately!” Sakuto yelled, approaching Aleksei. “By order of the Heisei! Leave this place before you die!”

“Sakuto, what the hell is going on?!” Jacob asked.

“Oh shut up, will you?” Nacht said. With just one motion and without even stopping glaring at Sakuto, he attacked Jacob. He rammed his hand right through his heart.

Blood gushed out of the wound, and a moment later, Jacob spit out even more blood. His heart was completely destroyed. It didn’t take too long for him to lose consciousness and die on the spot.

“No...”

Nacht removed his bloodied hand from Jacob’s now dead body and he threw it away, like a housekeeper would throw a bag of trash outside.

“You’re from the Heisei, aren’t you?” Nacht said, tossing the table between them to the side and approaching him. He tried to swing his fists at him, but his arms felt stiff. Awfully stiff, in fact. He could barely move them around.

“Huh? The brat’s body is trying to resist my commands?” Nacht thought. “Soul determination is quite the annoying thing sometimes.”

“All I know is that Lady Aizawa is waiting for me.”

Sakuto was too shocked to move properly.

“No...nonononono...”

“It hasn’t even been a day...”

Nacht pushed through the resistance and almost grabbed Sakuto by his neck. But Sakuto, no, Sakuto’s body fought back through sheer reflex. He grabbed Nacht by his own clothes, turned him around and kicked him away. There was enough force behind that kick to throw him outside, shattering the walls of the restaurant.

“Hits like a damn truck.” Nacht thought, trying to get back up. The body’s resistance was getting to him. “But still...this is only a fraction of your strength, isn’t it?”

“Did killing that guy make your soul waver so much?” He smirked at his hunter.

Sakuto chased after him. He swung his blade, releasing a powerful slash at Nacht - it struck him directly, carving a lengthy wound on his torso. He rushed closer, trying to get the killing blow. Nacht dodged the blow, but he lost his arm in the process. Surprisingly enough, it started to regenerate almost instantly.

“Sakuto Hitori...”

Nacht lunged back and threw a right overhand. Sakuto dodged it and kicked Nacht away, preparing to dash in and end the fight at once. Nacht evaded and dashed back with almost all of his strength.

“Your soul is wavering, Sakuto Hitori.” Nacht thought. He knelt down again.

“Aleksei!” Sakuto yelled through the emerging tears. “Are you in there? Keep restricting his movements!” He approached him, but Nacht grew slower and slower. Something was off. He sent slash after slash, they landed, they cut him badly, but it looked like it didn’t even matter.

“That won’t do.” Nacht said. He inserted his fingers into his right eye and gouged his eyeball out. Those were Aleksei’s last movements.

“This worm is still trying to resist me?”

“How does it not understand that it’s a futile effort?”

“It does not matter.”

“I am in control now.”

“ ✦ Divine Acclamation ✦ ”

“ ✦ Forever Darkened Soulscape ✦ ”

Sakuto was instantly immersed in a pitch black void.

There was no sound, no light, no smell, and he couldn’t feel or taste anything. Most alarmingly, he couldn’t breathe - there was nothing to breathe. He tried to swing his arms around, he couldn’t feel anything. All he could feel was nothingness, and a sense of drowning.

He tried to bring out his own acclamation - and perhaps, that way, he’d quickly adapt to this darkness and dismantle it. But he couldn’t. He just stared into it.

“I was just talking to him...”

“We were gonna eat fish, and work on a project together...”

“And...and Jacob...”

“I just...became friends with him today.”

“I told him to keep away from me.”

“It keeps happening to me.”

“He was supposed to go to a volleyball tournament.”

“Whenever life looks like it’s getting better, it all goes to shit.”

“I have to...get out of this...”

He stared into the darkness. But instead of finding it dangerous and scary, he found it to be...profoundly beautiful.

“But...”

“No matter what I do, it’s all that happens.”

“There’s nothing here. Nothing can hurt me or say bad things about me.”

“I won’t hurt or disappoint anyone if there’s no one around.”

“There’s no one waiting for me...”

His eye remained open, but it felt as if it was closed, even sleeping.

“I don’t feel cold anymore...”

He closed his eye. His breath got slower and slower, and a while later, it was on the brink of fading away. He thought about all the good times. He accepted the fact that he felt at peace.

“It feels so peaceful...”

“It’s like a nice, warm embrace.”

“Nobody needs me here anyways. It’s...finally time for me to go. Smiling and in comfort...sounds like a perfect ending for me.”

“Because no matter what others would tell me in this scenario...”

“I really can’t do this anymore.”

His consciousness was starting to fade away. His breathing stopped too. Not out of lack of oxygen, but almost voluntarily. The colorful gray started escaping his eye, burning like a flame on a candle by someone’s grave. The darkness and the abyss hugged him.

But the flame served a different purpose. It emanated a certain sorrowful light, and where there’s light, there’s a shadow. A small shadowy formation appeared on his body, transforming itself into an arm that held a knife. And it stabbed Sakuto in the chest - exactly where his old wound was.

It acted as a wake-up call. His heart got quickly engulfed with fear, adrenaline pumped through his body, but it was getting late. His body had almost gone limp. With his last remaining bit of strength, he made a finger gun. The release was incredibly weak, almost laughably weak...but it was enough.

“ ✦ Regretless... ✦ ”

“ ✦ ...soulscape... ✦ ”

The spark appeared, and a few moments later, the domain of darkness was shattered apiece.

Sakuto found himself on an empty street. It looked as if all the vehicles and people who got caught up in it disappeared. Did they also feel at peace, or were their last moments filled with pain?

He just laid there, looking at the night sky. Completely apathetic to the world. The clocks ticked at the exact same speed, and Sakuto felt as if he was one of them. He just lied there as a tear escaped his eye and reached the concrete ground. He neither wanted to move nor could move.

He hated what happened, he hated himself for what happened, and he hated the world for what happened. So much of that damn hate that it nullified itself, making him look like he didn’t care about a single thing in the world. Perhaps he was still warm from the embrace.

And his arm itched again.

Badly.