King Make Believe

Chapter 31

Hirokazu

I yawned and realised I'd somehow fallen asleep attempting to watch over Archer, I looked at the couch and him lying—asleep—his face screwed up in a gentle sort of way. I stood up and stretched my arms high above my head. I looked over at the door which lead to the room Jae was sleeping in. I then looked to the front door and saw it was wide open. I shuffled outside and saw that there was a light drizzle of rain. I saw the moon high above my head, nearly halfway through its journey.

"Hiro, you feeling better after that sleep?" Miyoko's soft, croaky voice rung out through the light whisper of rainfall. I looked over to my left and saw her leaning against the old, scratched up wall. The moonlight illuminated only one side of her face, the bags under her eyes had sunk into her skin on top of her cheekbones. She seemed to look like death warmed up. 

"Are you sure you're not coming down with something?" I walked to her side and leant against the wall too. She grinned at me, the shadows on her face sharpening and she looked away quickly from my concern. I sighed and hugged myself, the moon's cold stare haunting and yet still beautiful. Still elegant as the Queen she was.

"I keep thinking...How is it that we just happened to run into the one person—in the whole world, might I add—who can help you control your Mist?" She said, looking up at the moon again. I stared off into the distance and watched the rain fall. We just stood like that for a fair while, staring and thinking. At least, I was thinking about what Archer said to me—before I told him to sleep and wake up 'anew' with a language I learnt by holding his hand—

Wisi enim animam. I'm glad you are alive.

I frowned and tried to make sense of it. Maybe I got the translation wrong. Maybe it meant 'I never needed your help'. But the more I recalled it, the more the words blurred together, and all that was diving around my head was a single word. Glad.

I'd never had anyone say that to me before. Not Jae, not Mother—not Father, nor Tsuna. I stiffened and shifted my gaze to my hands, I looked at the patterns and lines on my palms and wondered what Tsuna would've done if that fire hadn't burned her alive. 

You will be loved more than you know...They will not jump in front of a bullet for you—they will grab you and pull you both to safety.

I began to walk away and I hoped that she could spend the rest of eternity with her valiant son and daughter-in-law. I hoped she would tell me 'to be as human as I could ever be'—but I didn't believe I was like any other person. I walked back inside and made my way into the bathroom, sitting against the small wall around the shower floor. I stared at the tiled ground and traced the patterns on my palms. I wasn't human—I was an abnormality—I was made to make decisions with the weight of everything on my shoulders, squishing my human body into the earth while my Mist caved a pathway for me to crawl. 

I went to stand up and I slipped, grasping out for the sink and feeling an overwhelmingly sharp pain slash across my wrist. My eyes widened in alarm as red blood gushed out. I held my other—currently working—fingers and tried to cover the small stream. I heard a shout and didn't think as I raced back into the main room. I saw Archer sitting up, shaking his head slightly as red dripped onto the floor below him. I gaped in astonishment. He had the exact same injury.

I ran over and didn't bother to cover up my small accident. I grabbed his wrist and pulled it towards me. He stumbled forwards and I inspected his—and then my own. "What—How—?" I looked up at Archer and he stared at me, his gaze focused and shocked.

"Hiro," He said slowly. "Why are we both bleeding in the exact same spot?"

I looked away sharply and ran back into the bathroom, Archer was hot on my heels—expecting a good explanation. I pointed to the blood spatters on the tiles and the bloody finger marks on the sink edge. "I was in here, when I slipped turning around and something cut my wrist..." I said, still trying to comprehend what was going on. I looked up at him desperately.