Underneath the Red Trees

CHAPTER 55: MISSING IDENTITY

Kaguya found Hayate waiting for her outside the graveyard. "Are you all right?" he asked. He had figured she had stayed behind to properly say goodbye to Tatsumi. Though she did not look like she had said goodbye, she looked like she had just confronted someone. He knew this because she seemed irked. It hadn't gone her way, then.

Kaguya glanced at Hayate's face. She was silent for a while. "Aren't you curious?"

"About?"

"The Face Eater?" she asked, "Don't you want to know who he is?"

Hayate sighed, "Of course I do. How do you propose we find out who he is?" She was silent. "I thought as much. We know nothing about him. We can't exactly figure it out without asking him directly. And even then, it would be up to him to tell us the truth."

Kaguya pursed her lips. Inside herself she knew Hayate was right. Nevertheless, after these past events she was burning with curiosity. Who was he? Why did he terrorise Hayate? Why did he save her?

Hayate watched her as she thought. It was clear to him that something had happened. She had never been curious of the Face Eater's identity before.

"Let's go then," he said.

"What?" Her brows crinkled together in a frown.

"Let's ask him who he is. Even if he doesn't tell us, he might jog our memories."

It was a cool summer night when Hayate and Kaguya made their way to the edge of Tokyo. They were on the beach where it had all began. The place where he had first seen a Break.

It was here that they found Naozumi Akano. He was crouched down, drawing pictures in the sand.

Hayate stared at him for a time. Kaguya stood two paces behind him. She did not want to get close to Naozumi.

Naozumi looked up. His eyes did not move upward quickly. It was dark, so maybe he didn't see Hayate. "Akano," Hayate started.

Naozumi's eyes widened when he heard that voice. His face relaxed, as if content. "Have you... come... to kill me?"

"Why?" he asked. Hayate only wanted to talk. That had been his goal the last time they met, as well.

Naozumi stared at him for a time. "Do you... not... know?"

Hayate's brows furrowed. "Know what?" Naozumi bit his lip. He looked away from Hayate. "Know what?" Hayate repeated.

Naozumi shook his head, slowly. "I did not..." he muttered. Hayate's eyes narrowed on him. "...mean to... hurt him..."

"Hurt who?" There was a sense of urgency in Hayate's voice. He felt his stomach twist. "Hurt who?"

Naozumi plopped his butt down on the wet sand. "I wanted... wanted to... apologise. After... after all these years... I have... realised... my actions... were cruel. I have regretted... and repented... my actions. When I... saw... Yuuki..."

After all the physical abuse Yuuki had endured by Naozumi's hand... Now the abuser wanted to be forgiven?

Hayate's jaw tensed. When had this occurred? He had trouble keeping his temper in check. His breath shook.

"Hayate," Kaguya said behind him, "Focus."

Hayate raised his chin, staring up at the sky. She was right. He had to control himself. He ran a hand through his hair.

He didn't realise the words until they came from his mouth. "Do you really think he would forgive you?" Hayate did not actually know if Yuuki would forgive Naozumi. He wondered what the latter thought.

Naozumi reached up his hand, digging his dirty fingernails into his scalp. "Of course... not... Yuuki is... my brother. Daisaku's brother. We... of the Akano clan... are... cruel. He would... never forgive me... if he knew. But perhaps... Touma Kirigaya... will." Naozumi's head shot up. "Why are you... here?"

Hayate jaw tensed. Sighing, he said, "I need you to take us to the Face Eater."

Naozumi's brows furrowed. "Why... bother? He is... always... watching..."

"Why would he watch you?"

Naozumi grinned self-loathingly, showing his crooked teeth. "I know... who he is."

"If he doesn't want anyone to know who he is, why doesn't he just kill you then?" Kaguya asked.

Naozumi snickered. "It is not that... he... has not tried."

"Who is he?"

Naozumi sucked in a breath. He opened his mouth, but before he said a word a black shadow grabbed him from behind. It wrapped around his mouth, suppressing his voice. Naozumi flailed, letting out moans but no comprehensive sound came from it. Hayate looked around in the darkness for what he hoped was the Face Eater.

He did not know how to provoke the Face Eater enough to get him out of the shadows. Out of the back of his mind, he remembered something a certain someone had said. "What's Pandora's Box?" he called into the darkness.

Naozumi went still when he heard those words. His eyes were about to pop out of their sockets.

This confirmed Dashi's words. Pandora's Box was real... whatever it was.

A figure stepped out of the shadows. He stood beside a fear-frozen Naozumi. The Face Eater cocked his head to the side. "Where did you hear that?"

"No one important."

The Face Eater sneered. "That is not an answer," he growled.

Hayate smirked provocatively, "So what is it? Is that where your power comes from?" The Face Eater did not answer.

"Why don't you show me who you are?" Hayate asked. "This game of yours is getting repetitive."

The Face Eater glared at him.

"Why do you hate me?" Hayate asked, "What did I do to you?"

"Hayate," Kaguya called behind him.

He didn't listen. He stepped closer to the Face Eater. Their noses almost touched. "What did I do to you?"

The Face Eater was silent. Would he answer? It didn't seem to be the case. Just as Hayate had predicted.

To his surprise, the Face Eater sneered. "You killed her."

Hayate's brows furrowed. What did that mean?

The Face Eater's spine snapped. His shoulders convulsed. He rolled his neck. It sounded as if his skeleton was caving in on itself.

The sounds of bones breaking stopped.

The Face Eater was shorter, now, the same height as Hayate. The skin of the face peeled away, like a snake shedding its skin. Slowly, Hayate's eyes widened. The face in front of him was as familiar as his own, just a bit different. Just a bit softer.

"Now you know," the Face Eater said, "little brother."