AI NO KUSABI [Novel English]

Vol. 6 Metamophose - Chap 1

It was late at night, three days since Kirie had broken into Riki's apartment and set up house. The shocking predicament had been dumped in Riki's lap and the storm of confusion and indignation still hadn't settled.

Riki had been accosted by the Midas Division of Public Safety and taken to their headquarters. That was the first sign that Kirie had been up to something. Thanks to Kirie, and some crossed wires, he and Bison had been force-fed the ugly consequences of whatever games Kirie had been up to.

Riki had been raked over the coals for information he didn't have. He'd been tortured for nothing until finally, his pet status had been revealed. As far as Riki was concerned, that was the last straw, only adding insult to his already searing injury.

With the stuffing knocked out of him, he'd barely managed to make it home. That was when he discovered that the cause of all his troubles had been hiding in his closet the whole time. Riki felt like the butt of the worst practical joke in history.

What the fuck? The scene unfolding before his eyes had been so unbelievable, he'd practically forgotten to breathe. A seething hatred boiled in his brain.

"Don't you go feeling all sorry for him," he'd told Guy.

"He's a time bomb. We can't just leave him lying around."

"Then we kick his sorry ass out of here," Riki had stated flatly. But when the scalding fury faded and the two of them were left alone, he couldn't bring himself to throw Kirie out the door. It left him feeling pissed with himself.

After that, Kirie stayed in the closet, curled up in a shivering ball. But it wasn't because he feared facing Riki and getting yelled at or tossed out. It was only in that dark, narrow place that he could define the boundaries of his world, so he shut himself away.

Despite his hunger, Kirie barely ate, surviving on mineral water and a few scraps of food. It was not due to a lack of appetite. Rather, his body seemed incapable of handling food. He consumed the bare minimum to keep from starving to death.

Riki had no idea what Kirie had gone through. Whatever it was, Kirie would only say over and over, "I don't want to die." His tenacious grip on existence was fierce.

"Yeah, so you love life."

Regardless of whatever empathy Riki had for the sentiment, looking at Kirie's haggard form—his briefest respites were haunted by nightmares—Riki couldn't give a damn about hauling Kirie out of the closet.

I'm such a pushover, he thought with clenched teeth. The realization was harsh.

Kirie would do anything to get ahead. No need to dress up the truth in fancy clothes. The kid would use and abuse whatever he had on hand, sell out his friends and his conscience, tell any lie to get the upper hand, kiss anybody's ass.

"The ends justify the means," he'd claimed, and was proud of it.

He'd faked his way through life with a swagger he'd never earned, and his ego on full display. Now a mere shadow of what he used to be, he didn't deserve anybody's sympathy.

A deep and unbridgeable divide had opened up between Kirie and Riki. It should have been obvious at a glance, but right at the bitter end, Kirie had tossed his verbal hand grenade into the mix.

"I love you," he'd said, repeating himself like a creature possessed.

What the hell did he think he was doing, blabbering on so mindlessly? All at once, listening to Kirie running off at the mouth, Riki lost track of where the kid was coming from. The Darkmen had kicked the shit out of him, and the end result of that grief was this stupid farce? The thought made Riki steaming mad.