Path Of Blood - 90 Chapter 82

Haruki sat down on the copilot seat, he leaned on his open palm and stared at the vast damp sky. He felt numb as he remembered the masked youth’s words.

“Attachments are unneeded.”

It unnerved him, shook him to the core. He heaved a heavy sigh as he gripped his pants. Kurenai wanted to ask him, But she sensed movement behind the metal door.

As Haruki was lost in his own sea of thought. Yang was about to barge inside. But Blake heard talking inside the cockpit, she stopped Yang on her tracks and motioned towards the door. They leaned in to listen to their conversation.

Kurenai looked towards Haruki. He just raised his hand. “It’s fine.” Kurenai shrugged her shoulders. “Tell me, Master… Why bother answering their questions if you’re just going to pass it on towards Ozpin? Won’t it confuse them even more? Why not just tell them directly?”

“The truth is scary… Sometimes when you’re confronted with it you’d shut your ears, close your eyes and crouch down. Too afraid to see the ugliness. But that’s not why…

To me, I hate my past. As much as possible I don’t want to look back. It’s scary… Honestly though it feels like I’m stuck in it. But you know that too don’t you?”

Both Yushu and Kurenai nodded their heads, They could see his past after all. The only thing they weren’t able to see or know were his thoughts or feelings on the matter.

Behind the door Team RWBY were listening in. They were silent, eagerly waiting to find out what’s next. They just leaned in hoping that they won’t be discovered.

He materialized a glass of Whiskey. “To calm the nerves.” He said making an excuse to nobody. No one’s going to stop him from drinking anyways and yet he still says it.

“Back then… When I got home from missions,

She always waited for me, With that beaming smile, it would blow all my worries away. That was all I needed honestly. ”

He drank the glass in one big gulp, He refilled the glass as he materialized the entire bottle. He sighed but he continued talking.

“But on that day… That accursed day.On that cold and snowy day. I clutched her cold body as the life drained out of her.

For some reason, I didn’t feel sad. It just lacked reality. And I gradually felt something inside me go numb… Frantically searching for a reason as to why. Like watching a bad dream I’ll never wake up from.

Then I scoured the Galaxy for this.” He said as he raised his hand where the Ars Magus was strapped.

“Thinking that this would bring her back… Thinking that this weapon could actually make a difference. That even if she couldn’t come back I would make that place a better one. But before I could even manage to do anything I was sent here.

I tried to bring her back, believe me… I tried. The rest? well that’s just me trying to live my life. Carrying on thinking that someday this might heal.”

He took another big swig from the bottle directly. His face scrunched up.

“Gaaahh!! Fuck that burns!!” He shook his head. And Gave both Yushu and Kurenai a self deprecating laugh. Behind the Metal Door Team RWBY was silent. It felt like words were stuck in their throats. No one could utter a single sound. Each one of them had a different thought on the matter.

Haruki leaned back on his chair, wearing an apathetic expression. “It felt like time stopped right at that very moment. Right… That exact moment where I sent her off with a pained smile. From that point on it’s like I’m watching a distant memory. Going about my life like water. Just going with the flow…”

With a heavy sigh he continued, “When I got transported into Gluttony’s Room of Desire…

I told her That it’s time I walked my own path, that they’re waiting for me. That I have already let go of that Hatred. Those were just the words that I wanted to hear. I knew what I said was fake. All of it was. I’m so detached from reality that I wanted to believe, what I told her was the truth. My deepest desire…

But deep down I knew that it was all meaningless.

But…I did…Let go of that Hatred. But what was left was nothing. Literally nothing. Good thing when I got out of that illusion Cinder was there. If she wasn’t I probably would’ve broken down. I needed comfort after what I’ve seen.

That’s why I can’t make a move to her. I can’t hurt her like that. I took advantage of her feelings. I took advantage of her in her moment of weakness. I was disgusted with myself. Especially someone who’s still has a chance for redemption like her.

Heh…But if I say this in front of her face, she’d probably slap me and scream. What about Neo? Pyrrha? The same goes for them… The answer will always be the same. That in the end I’m an irredeemable piece of shit.”

He let out his feelings out in one breath, No sound followed. Nobody could, they don’t know what to say. Even if they did, they doubt that it would be useful.

Haruki stared at the empty bottle in his hand. He slowly let it down and materialized another one. He didn’t drink from it he just stared at it. He then spoke.

“You really want to know About my life? Well, let me indulge you. Hard Life, Hard Luck, Ghosts chasing you, bad choices and worse decisions. The regret and the pain. The Lost Happiness out of Blindness and Pride. Keep on running and running, Knowing someday they’ll catch up.

To sum it all up, I was Younger back then… I wasn’t afraid of anything, I didn’t think about dying for a second. I thought I was invincible. Then I met some girl. I wanted to live, I started to think like that, for the first time in my life I was afraid of death. I had never felt like that before. Then it all came crashing down.”

Haruki materialized his mask back, but before he put it back on he stared towards at the Metal door and said, “Thanks for listening on the ramblings of a drunken loser.”

Both Yushu and Kurenai shrugged their shoulders, “We’re approaching Vale Master.” Haruki nodded his head, “Alright I’ll go tell them.”

He stood up from his seat, He wobbled his steps for a few seconds. But after awhile he regained his footing and walked out of the cockpit.

Team RWBY scrambled onto their own places in the ship, So Haruki wouldn’t suspect that they heard him. They didn’t have time to let his words sink in. It felt like they listened in on something they shouldn’t have.

When the door opened, They all looked away. Weiss tried her best to look him in the eye and ask, “H-Haruki, are we there yet?” Haruki in turn just smiled towards them, “Yeah, so put your game face on. It’s time to get to work.”

The Hatch in front of him opened. He gripped the handle near the hatch. He looked behind him, straight to the four of them. He said out loud for everyone to hear.

“We’re all running from the world and Our past while trying to live in it, A way that is often times the only way for people like me.”

The four just looked at him silently, waiting for his next words.

He put on his mask and stared at the vast horizon before speaking once more, ” She was a piece of me that I had lost. She is my other half that I had longed for.

I hope this answers some of your questions. No matter how small it cleared up things. Hell, it probably raised more… I can’t blame you.”

With those words he jumped off and turned into lightning to come crashing down in the middle of the City. The four rushed towards the open hatch and stared at his figure that grew smaller each moment that passed by. No one knows what thoughts were racing in each of their minds.

———–

‘This world is full of people whose livesgo wrong, through reasons that are out of their control sometimes or being in the wrong place at the right time.

The tragedy is that by Making peace between oneself and the world, would risk making that world a more hostile place for others…’

Haruki thought to himself as he was falling. Lightning slowly crawled throughout his body until he became lightning itself and came barreling down towards the ground.

He crashed straight into a pack of beowolves, He brought out Mournful Vengeance and spun his blade, within a fraction of a second the Beowolves were bisected in half. He jumped up in the air once more leaving only a trail of void bats in his wake.

He spoke out loud even though there was not a soul in sight, “But I’ve learned how to carry on with my life.”

Once in the air he brought out Kusanagi. He closed his eyes and muttered in a low voice, <<1st Form – Bladestorm>>

It felt like the entire town was cut into pieces, The space around them distorted, It looked like the entire town was jagged like a broken mirror.

Haruki used the Shura style without actually activating the path of the Shura. Although it’s not as strong as when path of Shura is active, it’s still deadly considering the Grimm he has devoured. The Grimm in the immediate area we’re cut into pieces.

Haruki landed on the ground, He glared towards the next wave of Grimm that was approaching from a distance.

He brought out both Fenrir Fangs and Echoing Fury. Countless Revenants and Jet-black Dire Wolves came out from his shadow.

“I just want to not feel anything, That’s why I’ve stopped remembering. Foolishly I believed that running away from it and going straight into comfort was the best option.

Fuck… I hate self reflection… That in the end I’m just using them so that I don’t get depressed. What a fucking joke…” He shook his head, it felt like he was just making more excuses.

He summoned Nidhogg, a huge cannon appeared on his shoulder. He gripped the handle and hovered his finger on the trigger. He fired towards the approaching Grimm. He smirked, “Que Sera Sera.”