Soul Spark

9 - Sibling Love

“Sheesh, it’s already getting dark...” Oskar said.

“It’s almost the middle of autumn, what else do ya expect?” Sakuto said. “Days are shorter...and colder.”

“You two aren’t cold, right?” Oskar asked, looking back.

“I’m good, but she’s falling asleep.” Ryan replied, carrying sister on his back. “Is it safe to rest somewhere? She hasn’t slept for days.”

“Well, let’s find a spot first.” Sakuto said. “Half of the enemy’s strike force is wiped out.”

“Really?!” Ryan asked, surprised.

“Yep.” Oskar said with pride, as if he was the one who did it. “I don’t think any of their remaining top dogs will attack at night.” ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ NoveI[F]ire.net

“See that larger building next to the store? We could probably crash there, somewhere on the top floors.” Sakuto said, pointing at a half-destroyed building with his blade. He used his weapon as a walking stick, he was on his feet and fighting soldiers all day. He probably didn’t even need to do that and just thought it looked cool.

“I guess that works.” Ryan agreed with him. He held onto the handgun in his waist that he looted off of one of the soldiers that the soulfuls killed, constantly looking out in every direction. But the man he was scared of the most was actually walking right next to him.

They climbed up to the second floor, which seemed to be intact the most. There was an old dusty carpet on the floor, the four of them sat down. Stella, however, was already half-asleep.

“Sakuto, you think I can take a shit in these toilets?” Oskar asked.

“Well, is there anything stopping you?” Sakuto asked back.

“No, I mean like- whatever, I know I’m not gonna get a serious response from you.” Oskar sighed. “I’ll see if I can take a shower too. I need to unwind.”

“And I’m the addict...” Sakuto chuckled.

“We’re not doing this.” Oskar replied. ”I’m sure a lot of suspiciously dry tissues are gonna be found at your place.”

“I’m one second away from killing your dumbass.” Sakuto grunted.

Oskar left. Sakuto looked at Ryan who was smiling.

“Something on your mind?” Sakuto asked.

“Nah, it’s just...you two are really close.” Ryan said. “It’s like one of those plots for movies. You know, two best friends fighting through the apocalypse.”

“Hah, I’m glad that’s the impression I gave off.” Sakuto smirked. “We’ve known each other for a while. He’s the guy I’d pick to fight against the whole world with.”

“I guess...” Ryan sighed. He patted his sister on her head, who was sound asleep. He looked a bit sad, but also glad that now they were safe. Stella seemed completely unfazed by what she saw Sakuto do.

“Hey, um...how long do you think this war will take to end?” Ryan asked.

“Could be a day, could be a week...could be a loss.” Sakuto replied. “Depends on how we deal with the big guy.”

“I see...” Ryan said. “It must be difficult.”

“Ever read any manga?” Sakuto asked. “All we do is fight like manga characters. Except if we die, we die. Unless you’re me.”

“Huh?”

“I didn’t tell you? I died and came back to life. I don’t know if it was exactly three days or not, so don’t call me a saint.” Sakuto said. “My power is completely different.”

“I guess...”

The two shared an awkward silence.

“Hey, uh, do you think I’m doing a good job?” Ryan asked.

“Huh?”

“Do you think I’m doing a good job? You know, as a sibling...am I doing alright at protecting her?”

“Well, I’d say you’re playing it smart. She’s alive and well, that already means you’re doing a great job.” Sakuto replied. “Don’t beat yourself up too hard over it.”

“Thanks...”

“...”

“Mom’s probably very concerned.” Ryan said, gently caressing his sister’s head. “She divorced our dad a few years ago and moved out of the state to make money. She’s in Virginia now. I heard the soulful hunt is pretty bad there too...but she isn’t one. Thankfully.”

“I’m sure she feels really concerned for you. But hey, you’re safe and your sister is in safe hands.” Sakuto said. “Thankfully not a soulful? Come on.”

“Every time I look at Stella, I remember her. They’re really alike.” Ryan said. “But Stella is a soulful. I don’t know why the world hates her. But I wanna protect her.”

“The world hates all soulfuls. Not even the world, just a few sacks of...garbage that want us gone for whatever reason.” Sakuto sighed. “It all comes down to politics and personal interests. They don’t care about who they have to cull to reach their goal.”

“What about you, Sakuto?” Ryan asked. “How does your family react to everything? They’re concerned, right?”

“I lost all my family way before this.” Sakuto said.

“I’m sorry to hear that.” Ryan said. “I’m sure that your parents would be proud of what you’re doing right now.”

“You’re saying this as if you know what I do.” Sakuto yawned. “Oh wait, you do. And you’re strangely supportive of it.”

“Ah, that...well, it is what it is. It’s war.” Ryan said. “I’m sure the war is having its effect on you or something. I don’t think you killed out of fun or anything. I don’t really think you’re a bad guy.”

“Really...?”

“Yeah, you saved me and my sister. I don’t have to know about everything, I just have to know this one action to know you’re a good person.”

“Thanks...for the praise, I guess.” Sakuto said.

“Ouch...”

“I hope Stella grows up to be someone like you. A strong and kind soulful.” Ryan said.

“You’re wishing quite literally the worst upon your sibling.” Sakuto chuckled. “But, on a more serious note...she’ll probably evolve and become a complete soul. She’ll develop a power too, and later on she’ll be the one protecting you.”

“Really? You think she has it in her?” Ryan asked, excited.

“It takes time and a bit of luck and circumstance, but...I think that’ll be the case.” Sakuto said. “Hey, if she’s strong enough, she might even end up in the Heisei.”

“Sounds...exciting.” Ryan said. “She was scared of being a soulful earlier, but after these events, I’m sure she’ll look at it differently.”

He shed a small tear looking at Stella. He kissed her forehead, and quietly laid on the carpet.

“Good call.” Sakuto said. “I’ll fall asleep too.”

“Soldier groups wouldn't risk attacking strong soul presences. As long as we stay here, we’ll be safe.”

“A strong and kind soulful, huh?”

He laid back and glanced at the ceiling, his eyes slowly shut.

“I guess that’s what I look like to them...”

“Ugh...I can’t fall asleep. I need to get some water too...”

Sakuto slowly got up. It was still night outside. He noticed that he was alone in the room. Oskar was likely asleep upstairs, but Ryan and Stella were missing.

“There’s no way they got abducted, otherwise I’d wake up for sure...”

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“Maybe they went to the abandoned store across the street? That would make sense the most. It’s just the two of them gone anyways.”

Sakuto slowly made his way downstairs and left the building. The sky was pitch black, the city smog blocked the stars from being visible. An uncaring cold wind blew past him, it was a good reminder that the climate was changing for the colder.

“I don’t think it’s impossible for the guy to go out and remain undetected. I mean, hell, he survived for some time before coming into contact with us, right?”

He traversed his way to the street, where he saw something unnatural. He tried to identify it, but it was too far away yet. He did see something move next to it, though.

“Is that an animal? No, wait, that’s too big...and why would there be an animal there?”

He approached the strange thing more. In the middle of the road, in between the residence and the store. His eyes were half-closed and his vision was a little blurry. He approached the thing and noticed some blood around it. Once he took a closer look, he couldn’t move.

Just a few moments ago, she was peacefully sleeping. Now, her lifeless body was on the cold asphalt, with her throat cut open.

Sakuto instantly recoiled back, his eyes wide open and his hands slightly shaking.

“No...”

“No, no, no....how...how the fuck...”

“This isn’t real. I’m having one of those dreams again...”

He quickly turned around and threw up. His violent coughs that followed caused him great pain. He turned around, the body was there, and it was real.

“Where...the fuck...is Ryan?!”

Sakuto looked around in panic. A dozen meters away, he saw the brother. He approached him a little, and now that he was wide awake and even oversensitive, he could hear his ragged breathing.

Ryan’s voice was coarse, tears dropped down on the ground. His head was shaking, so were his arms. He heard Sakuto’s footsteps and turned around. Worst of all, he pointed the handgun at him.

“What the fuck happened?!” Sakuto asked, his own breathing was out of rhythm.

“No...no....”

“She’s dead!” He exclaimed. The gun was trembling in his pale hands. A few moments later, it looked like he came back to his senses. “She’s...dead...”

“Ryan, put the gun down, and tell me what happened.” Sakuto said, taking a step forward.

“It doesn’t matter anymore...she’s dead...” Ryan said, sobbing a little harder. He lowered his handgun. “I failed.”

“Tell me what happened.” Sakuto said more sternly. But Ryan seemed zoned out. “Ryan!” Sakuto yelled again in disbelief.

Ryan quickly drew the handgun and aimed it inside his own mouth.

Sakuto was frozen. He fell completely silent. Ryan, on the other hand, looked broken. More and more tears escaped his eyes. He looked scared and powerless. His finger was on the trigger and his hands were shaking.

Sakuto reached his hand out and screamed.

“DON’T-”

[BANG]

Ryan’s body fell on the asphalt. No sign of life, no spark in his eyes and no breaths leaving his mouth. The area around his head was covered in a pool of blood that kept on getting larger and larger.

Sakuto stared at the sight, unable to move at all. A few moments later, he heard a pair of footsteps.

“Sakuto, where’s the gunshots from?!” Oskar said, rushing to him. He stopped as soon as he saw Stella’s corpse. “W-what the fuck? What happened?!”

Sakuto didn’t move a muscle.

“Is that Ryan too?!” Oskar asked in terror, seeing the body. “How did this happen...how did we let this happen?”

“He shot himself...” Sakuto said in a quiet and shaky voice. He stared at his palms.

“Oh, God...” Oskar exhaled. “I’m guessing he saw the girl get killed and he couldn’t handle it. Fuck...fuck!” He yelled, the realization finally setting in.

“Stella was dead first...” Sakuto said in a low and shaky voice. “Ryan k-killed himself. They left the room for some reason...without waking me up...”

“They got intercepted without any noise...and Ryan went out to find her, and...” Oskar said. He approached his friend and put his hand on his shoulder. “Did he do it right in front of you?”

“Yeah...”

“Fucking hell...” He sighed, somewhat embracing Sakuto. “Look, let’s get back to the room. You gotta sit down.”

“No,”

“Huh?”

“They’re somewhere around.” Sakuto said. With all his might, he propelled himself upwards and landed on the supermarket’s roof. From there, he could notice something moving.

Not just moving from one place to another, but something that had life in it. A specific area riddled with life. He took interest in it and jumped to another building’s roof, gradually getting closer and closer to it. Oskar tried to follow him but ultimately he knew that he wouldn’t be able to stop Sakuto from doing whatever he had in mind.

And there it was - in the distance there was a gathering of people who seemed to be relaxed. They weren’t just soldiers, though. There were mostly civilians there who managed to strike up a conversation with the resting soldiers. Political ideologies didn’t really matter in that environment, they all wanted the war to end.

Stella must’ve accidentally told them that she’s a soulful. She could’ve tried to fight them or to flee, but it didn’t matter much, the result did. Sakuto heard singing coming from the gathering, these were chants for peace to bolster everyone’s morale.

And Sakuto made his presence known.

He threw a sequence of flying slashes at the mass, instantly decapitating quite a lot of people, mostly civilians.

“It’s all your fault...”

“Soulful attack!” One of the soldiers yelled. “Everyone, combat positions!”

“Get out! All of you that are unarmed, get out of here!” Another soldier commanded, this bit was directed at the civilians.

Sakuto kept throwing slashes around. He came under rather heavy gunfire, but it only slightly hurt him. It was nowhere near enough to seriously harm or kill him. He kept marching forwards and sending slashes their way, killing dozens with them.

“This is what the soulless do...”

“They just ruin lives.”

He started moving around much faster, swinging his blade like a madman. At first he cut down the soldiers, it didn’t even matter where he cut them - their bodies would split like butter upon contact. But then it was the civilians.

“They’re out here celebrating while they don’t even think about us.”

“Hey, hey! I’m not a soldier!” One of the civilians, who was unfortunate enough to be in Sakuto’s way, said. “I didn’t do-”

Sakuto cut his head off. He looked to his side, a woman who looked like his wife was next to his corpse, and he cut her down too.

“It’s all you...”

Sakuto remembered a snippet of the past, he found himself as a kid surrounded by other kids, and the dynamic wasn’t really in his favor. It wasn’t just the malevolence, it was the lack of care.

He sent more slashes at the civilians that tried to escape. The soldiers kept dumping their mags at Sakuto, but the only thing it accomplished was making Sakuto’s skin slightly red and scarred. One of the military vehicles that attempted to gun Sakuto down with a machine gun was destroyed by an electric arrow.

Oskar saw everything unfold and he didn’t try to intervene too much. The chants had stopped completely, replaced with screams of confusion and cries of grief. They all wanted help.

Sakuto killed another civilian. A soldier was next to him, he felt the blade’s sharpness too. Sakuto rushed at another pair of soldiers slightly far away and punched one of them with enough force to break their face, and chopped the other one’s head off. The victim of the punch tried to reach for his gun despite the pain but his skull got stomped.

“It was all you...”

“You fucking soulless.”

“She’s dead because of you.”

One of the soldiers rushed at him with his bayonet. Sakuto kicked him in the leg with enough force to destroy it completely and drop him on the ground. The thing is, that soldier was a dormant soul.

Sakuto mounted him on the ground and struck him on the jaw.

“If you’re a soulful, why are you on their side?” Sakuto said, punching him again. It was obvious the poor guy was going to be subject to an especially cruel death. The rest of his unit had retreated already, and the civilians were scattered around - some mourning their loved ones’ death, some running away.

“I...was forced to...”

Sakuto punched him to death. He got up, and there was only one other soldier left in the area. A simple soulless lad with a dark green uniform on and a rifle in his hands. Sakuto slowly approached him.

The soldier tried to use his weapon, but it didn't work. And it made him confused and panicky. By the time he accepted his fate, Sakuto was already in front of him.

"Kill yourself." He said, his voice shaking.

"W-what?" The soldier asked in fear, pointing his rifle at Sakuto.

"I said shoot kill yourself!" Sakuto yelled. "That's what he did!"

A younger woman ran up to him. The soldier was terrified to see her, it was presumably someone close to him. Sakuto killed her with a single punch. In terror, shock and rage, the soldier tried to take aim, but Sakuto crushed his neck with one motion. He tripped him and started beating his dead body to a pulp.

“Because of your kind’s whims, I had to kill Jackal.”

“Because of you, there’s a war right now.”

“Stella was just one case of your fucking genocide. How many other such cases are there that we don’t know about? What else do you do to soulfuls-”

Just thinking about that made Sakuto act on impulse. He punched a hole in the soldier’s guts.

“It was all you.”

“You were the reason people are miserable, aren’t you?”

“You, and this pitiful system of laws and rules and customs that you created...”

He prevented the soldier from falling down by holding him by his uniform. He unsummoned his weapon and used his free hand to deliver deadly punches to the soldier’s body.

“And this war...”

He remembered his interaction with Ichika during the planning meeting.

“You will be the reason I’ll be miserable again, won’t you?”

He punched the soldier strongly enough to break his head apart and dropped the body. It took him a few moments of silence to process everything, he was zoned out. Oskar slowly approached him and put his hand on his shoulder.

“You need to rest.” Oskar said.

“It was a soulful who orchestrated all of this, wasn’t it?” Sakuto asked. “Otto Richter...”

“It was.”

“I’m gonna kill him.” Sakuto said, clenching his fists. “I’m gonna fucking murder that soulless piece of shit.” His hand twitched a little. He wanted to throw up. But first and foremost, he wanted to curl up in a ball somewhere and not even think about anything. A cold drop of sweat fell down from his neck.