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The air in the forest was hot and thick, which made this adventure more uncomfortable then it should have been. Korekiyo was tasked with finding one of the most dangerous remnants of despair, Gonta Gokuhara.
He had heard the tales of horror of the people who had tried. They said he could tear someones head clean off, and that he would rip the spine out of anyone who dared to bother him. They said he could smell blood from miles away, and that nothing could keep him down. The man that he heard all this from had barely escaped, the only one on the expedition of 5 men who did. The future foundation had sent Korekiyo, because the brainwashing hadn't effected him in the same way. It didn't get through to him, and for whatever reason, he was able to continue on his way as a (somewhat) normal person.
The stories continued to become more and more disturbing, detailing heavily what the feral teen would do to anyone who dared to venture into his forest.
As he moved further and further in, Korekiyo could tell he was getting close. It was slowly getting darker out. Thats when he liked to come out. They shouldn't have sent him so late. Finding the boy sleeping and capturing him then would have been so much easier than having to find him and convince him to come back while he was awake.
The forest was dead quiet. No sign of anyone. Korekiyo stopped momentarily, unsure what to do next. What he really wanted was to turn around and run away, but he knew that it wasn't really an option.
The whistle of a bird broke the silence. It didn't sound quite right. Like it was artificial. Like no bird Korekiyo had ever heard before.
There was another one. Louder, from a different spot. Something was wrong.
He felt something brush his leg, and he froze.
He looked down, it was only a mouse. It was running from something. He heard another loud whistle, in another different place. It was louder than all of the others, like the noise was coming from.... directly behind him....
He turned to face his target, who had been standing right there. In an instant, he tried to step backwards, only to be tripped by what looked like a mangy, dog-like creature. Gonta took a step towards him, with a low growl that made Korekiyo freeze. There was going to be no reasoning with him. He was about to die. Korekiyo reached down to rest a hand on the pistol the Future Foundation had given him, in case of an emergency. That would be the worst possible outcome.
He didn't want to kill anyone, not today at least.
So instead, he tried to crawl backwards, trying to frantically escape the tall boy and his awful dogs. Korekiyo saw the mouse that had skittered across his feet, and he watched as Gonta picked it up by the tail. At first, Korekiyo thought he would kill it. Crush it in his hands, eat it whole, or something disturbing like that. Instead, he dropped it in the palm of his hand, and let it crawl onto his shoulder. Why spare a mouse but not a person? He whistled again, this time was even worse. Korekiyo blinked, momentarily pausing, before he realized what was about to happen. He had summoned a swarm of bugs.
The woods grew more alive after the swarm, and the horrifying shrieks of the animals sounded like taunts and laughter. Korekiyo tried to run, but he wasn't fast enough. The bugs were getting in his eyes and in his face, which made him feel even worse. He fell backwards, landing on his hand with a sharp pain that made him feel even worse. He ignored it and tried to keep moving, but it was no use.
Gonta was already there, right in front of him. Korekiyo had no idea how he moved so silently yet so quickly with such little effort.
He grabbed the pistol from his pocket, and at a final attempt to escape he fired it.
Gonta was unfased. Korekiyo never thought he would see anything like this, but he watched as the boy took two fingers to the wound and ripped the bullet straight out of his chest, and flicked it back to Korekiyo.
This was it. He said one final goodbye to everyone else as he prepared to reunite with his sister, in eternal peace.
"Please," He cried, trying to figure out some way that he could make it out alive.
"It's me, Korekiyo. Remember? We were classmates. We were friends!"
It was working. Gonta's eyes softened, and he looked at Korekiyo with what seemed to be confusion. His body twitched, and Korekiyo realized that his words weren't the only thing that worked. The wound in his chest was spreading blood rapidly, and Gonta was starting to look pale. He fell to the ground, and Korekiyo moved closer, to hold onto him. He took his shirt off and covered the bullet wound with it, hoping that it would work as a temporary solution. The Future Foundation would be coming soon. He didn't have a way to contact them, but he did know that if he didn't come back in a certain amount of time, they would send people looking for him. Animals were coming towards him, sitting next to Korekiyo. They were ignoring the fact that moments ago they wanted him dead. The swarm of bugs had dissipated into various trees, and he could hear the solemn song of the crickets. Korekiyo felt out of place, still holding Gonta in his arms and pressing his shirt down, watching as the blood spread through it. It seemed as if all the animals from the forest had gathered to watch as their leader slowly struggled for his life. They loved him. He must have treated them well. The cries from the dogs brought him back to reality. He watched as they lay their heads on Gonta's chest, as if they were trying to stop the bleeding as well. Korekiyo revisited his question, why save a mouse but not a person. Because they took care of him. Korekiyo knew there was nothing he could do now, so with tears in his eyes he lay his head down too, closing his eyes and listening to the crickets song once again.
Shouts woke him up. There was blood smeared into his shirt and his mask once he sat up, but he didn't care. It was dark out, and all the animals had gone.
Korekiyo couldn't answer questions. He couldn't tell them what happened. They treated him for a broken wrist, and didn't ask him any more about the night afterwards.
It was strange. He knew he would have gotten no mercy if the roles were switched, but it made him wonder what he really did with those people. Maybe he was still the same man deep down.
He decided that maybe one day, he could ask.