The Crimson Thread

Chapter 26: Tearin' Up My Heart

Silence. Warmth. Peace. A tinge of pain here and there. All in all, quite alright. Until the breaking of the silence comes like the breaking of glass.

Crimson Tyrant: "Wake the fuck up, Branwen."

Red eyes creek open slowly as though they hadn't been used in millennia. The pungent smell of dried blood fills the nostrils like a wave against the shore. A sharp yet aching pain soon replaces the numbness.

The things he sees are fuzzy and hard to make out. There was light, orange, and yellow. A campfire? The two figures, he could tell, were still hard to define. But soon, a figure appeared like a shadow before him, and this figure was as clear as the sky.

Crimson Tyrant(mirage): "You're awake. Well, half, but just enough. Morning sleeping beauty."

The shadowy image of himself moves aside as it is soon replaced with the excited face of Mataro Mankanshoku. Mataro soon began to dance around the campfire with what looked like Guts. His sight seemed to have returned as he looked around to see he was wrapped in enough bandages to be considered bulletproof. He could see that they had been camped in one of the drainage pipes in Honno City.

Hawk: "Ma—....taro..?" His voice was ragged, and it took a great deal of effort to try and speak.

Mataro: "Oh! Yeah! Sorry. Forgot about you for a sec there. Believe me, we thought you were dead, so to see that you're not means I'm one step closer to being as good as my dad."

Hawk: "W—...wha...happ—...end?"

Mataro: "Long story short, these weird ass flying suits started eating people. Then the whole academy blew up. Guts and I managed to escape and have used our expert theivin' skills to hide from those suits. About three days after, I found you practically dead in a massive crater. Using what I learned from watching my dad, I attempted to patch you back up. You're welcome, by the way."

Hawk: "T—...Thank-Gah!" He tries to speak but feels a sharp pain in his chest.

Crimson Tyrant(mirage): "Try not to speak too much or exert yourself. You just had a small heart attack."

Hawk: "W...why-"

Crimson Tyrant(mirage): "Why are you seeing me? Cause the little squirt here had the idea to put the artificial Kamui on you." Hawk manages to look down to see that he is indeed wearing the artificial Kamui.

Mataro: "What? Is something wrong?" Hawk uses his hand to tug at the artificial Kamui's sleeve. "Oooh! That thing. Well, I always saw how it made Ryuko super tough, and I knew you had one, so I kinda...took a gamble. But hey, looks like it paid off."

Hawk let out a small sigh as he laid his head back. He couldn't move to take it off, so he just had to live with it for the time being. The Crimson Tyrant moves to lie down opposite of Hawk to have their heads next to one another.

Crimson Tyrant(mirage): "Not gonna lie to you, bucko. You're hanging on by the medical malpractice of an 8-year-old and by literal strings. Being pissy about having to wear me isn't going to heal you any faster. Also, we can still talk like normal if you use your head. Don't need you having another heart attack in the middle of a sentence."

Hawk(mental): "Why are you helping me? Isn't this what you wanted to see me suffer and die?"

Crimson Tyrant(mirage): "....Look...that uh..speech, you made to your friends...it got me thinking. About all this. Actually, about a lot of things...And I kept thinking, and thinking and thinkin'. In the end...I didn't want to be angry at you...Looking back on your memories. Seeing what you went through and how all those traumatizing events shaped you. It dawned on me that...it made sense for you to try and cut out all that hate and anger. Try and cut the demon out of you. You were angry, just like me. You were angry at the fact you weren't human. Angry that no matter how much good you tried to do, as long as you weren't truly a human, it didn't amount to anything.....I suppose the same could be said for myself. I was pissed off that you would try and get rid of me after all the good I helped you do. That for all the power I offered you and gave you, it didn't dissuade you from trying to separate me from you...Look, I know my hissy fit has gotten us in some deep shit....and I want you to know that...I'm sorry...I truly am." Crimson Tyrant got up as he leaned against the interior edge of the drainage pipe they were in.