Still, the biting words of Akane’s illusion rang in Gorou’s ears. The sound of his steps echoing in the massive corridor reminded him where he was and why, but his anger had gotten the better of him. Every bone in his body itched for a fight, and he couldn’t stop thinking about driving his blade into the psychopath that had put him there.
Ahead, a familiar presence came into being which the angry soldier immediately recognized as belonging to Manzou. Some sense of calm could have washed over him at the sight of his friend, but there was nowhere for his rage to go. As soon as he came close enough to see his comrade, he stopped short and, unconsciously, rested his hand on Gunshin’s hilt.
“Manzou,” he growled, “why have you come to this place,” he meant to ask a question but thanks to his anger caused it to sound more like a demand. The wild-eyed and battle-crazed look was still on his face, but it was different. There was darkness to it. He felt like he did when he hunted down and killed Juzo back in Edo. All he could think about was finding the object of his anger and watching it die before his eyes.
His counterpart snapped his eyes toward the footsteps outside his field of vision.
“G...,” the Herald spoke before his shoulder slipped from the wall, taking his balance down with it. “Gorou...”
His concerns over the whereabouts and well-being of his friend rushed to the surface and were allayed just as quickly as Manzou laid his eyes on Gorou. That relief itself, too, was smothered as the pain of his wounds surged again and forced his eyes and jaw shut harshly. He groaned, managing to lock the sanguine-haired Herald’s gaze after a moment---pausing and assaying his friend’s words and unnatural temperament. He’d seen that look in Gorou’s eyes only once before, though not to its present degree.
“I’m here,” Manzou began, regaining a bit of his strength with every word, skepticism hidden in his exhausted expression. “because of that... bastard, Raifuku. We’re all here.” He made it to his feet, still panting and needing the strength of the wall to stand. “Did you... just get out of there?”
Hearing the name had set Gorou further over the edge than he’d expected. It didn’t help that he saw his companion beaten and battered. He took a few steps forward, but he was cautious with his position and maintained his distance.
“I’ve fought and killed and died, and yet I remain, as you do. It’s time to put an end to this game,” he tightened his grip on Gunshin’s handle, “Raifuku needs to die,” he tightened his expression.
The intensity in his tone, the apprehension in his steps, the overall unfamiliarity of the man standing before him put him less at ease than closer to the same level of ire---if only a little closer. For all the strife that he himself had experienced, it seemed his friend took more scars---none of them apparent---with him from that false reality than he did.
For a moment, the raven-haired man’s mind diverged from where it was a moment ago, from where it needed to be.
“...who’d you find in there?”
Hearing the question took him back, and he slid through the spectrum he’d felt when he’d seen his wife in that mirror. None of it made it through to his face, he forced it back and just got angrier.
“Her name was Akane,” he looked away for a moment. Despite his resolve to keep his composure, his voice still shook with a combination of grief and anger.
“But that is in the past,” he looked back at Manzou and his grimace returned in full force, “all I have here is death and I mean to bring it to Raifuku.”
The fire in Gorou’s eyes engulfed Manzou and yet didn’t reach him at the same time. The concern of and curiosity over what exactly happened to him within the maze brushed abrasively against everything else running through his head and the agony of his wounds, the former falling to the latter. As soon as his thoughts were centered again, the Herald forcibly regathered his resolution.
“As much as I understand that,” he said, the static of the phone’s speaker hissing in the background. “We have to get everyone out of here before this place floods.” After slowly re-sheathing Tatsunokuchi, Manzou gimply pushed himself from the other side of the corridor opening to the next. His eyes narrowed and gathered what light and clarity they could in the dark distance, finding the two far-off corridors. “There might be... a control room or something... that’ll free everyone from that damn dream world. All I know is... we can’t wake them up... right now.”
A distraction was the last thing Gorou needed, and he was fully prepared to argue or even split up just to satisfy his blood thirst. He shifted his stance and something in his pocket shifted, and he immediately remembered what he’d brought. Even though it had been obliterated in the illusion, he knew that he’d still brought the only thing that could keep him from going completely berserk.
“So be it,” he grunted as he reached in and pulled out the cigarette he’d brought, “come what may. I’ll assist you,” he lit the cigarette up and took in a long puff. The taste and smell of tobacco took the edge off. Even though he was angry and he wished so dearly for his hands to be drenched in Raifuku’s blood, he could wait just a little bit longer.
Doc WC : 523 [523] / Ketch WC : 652 'cause this was more convenient P:
