Tsunami of Dead Tears: Part 2

Chapter 7

Giyuu sighed as Inosuke mispronounced his name once again.

Here we go again...

"It's Giyuu Tomioka." He said.

"Whatever!" Inosuke yelled. "You won't get away with last time!"

Giyuu looked back at Inosuke, confused. "Last time?"

"When you scolded me!" Inosuke answered. "You stopped me from executing the final blow on him!"

"Because he wasn't a demon!" Giyuu said.

"So what?!" Inosuke said back. "Am I just gonna stand there and take the bullet?"

Giyuu sighed in frustration. He hoped that Inosuke would at least consider using common sense, but the way he spoke... it didn't sound like he understood Giyuu's words.

"Why are you... so competitive all the time?"

Inosuke cocked his head at this. "Huh?"

"Every time." Giyuu said. "Whenever somebody does something. Whether it be fighting, eating, cooking, burying, you always strive to be better than that person. I just don't understand."

"So you don't understand how to live life?" Inosuke asked.

Giyuu arched his eyebrows. "Excuse me?"

"Life is about fighting!" Inosuke said. "Whatever you do, wherever you are, you are always fighting something. Whether it's a person, an animal, an insect, or even just gravity, you have to win those fights! No matter how small scale they are, if you don't win..."

Inosuke paused for a moment, as if he was trying to recollect a distant memory deep in his mind.

"Then you don't deserve to live."

Giyuu stared at Inosuke in a complete loss of words. He knew that Inosuke was a very peculiar person, but he never expected anything like this.

"Did your father teach you those things, or something?" Giyuu asked.

"I didn't have a dad." Inosuke said. "But I did have a mom. She was a good mom, always knew how to win a fight. But one day... I won against her. And I'm alive because of that."

"Where's your mother now?" Giyuu asked.

Inosuke slowly rose his hand to his face and tugged at his mask. Giyuu's eyes widened as he realized what Inosuke was trying to convey.

"You see?!" Inosuke yelled. "That's why I have to get stronger. That way, I can win against anyone! Everyone! Even YOU, Priyuu Tromeokka."

"Win?" Giyuu asked. "No one is trying to fight you. I'm not trying to fight you."

"Of course you are!" Inosuke yelled. "If you didn't, then you wouldn't have tied me to a tree the first time we met!"

"I was trying to save you!" Giyuu objected. "If I didn't tie you up, you would've died of exhaustion. Your broken ribs might've even punctured your lungs. If I didn't pass by, you probably would've died."

Inosuke stood silent for a while, trying to take in this information.

"You don't need to win against me." Giyuu said. "I'm not trying to win against you."

Inosuke tried to let out a witty response, but Giyuu's words were... unmistakably genuine.

"And like you said..." Giyuu muttered, stepping towards Inosuke. "To lose is to die, right?"

Inosuke looked away from him. "You're not making any sense..."

Giyuu stood in front of Inosuke and put a hand on his shoulder.
"Lesson 3... not everyone in the world is trying to kill you."