✔ The Hunters | Garou

first redemption

undeserving

"...she tortures me, she tortures me with her love..." 

- Fyodor Dostoyevsky (The Brothers Karamazov)

A couple weeks had passed since then.

I imposed an exile on myself and went to meditate in the secret training grounds. But the old man found me soon enough and pulled me out of my exile.

I was also made to go to interrogations and apology visits for my crimes along with the old man. It was a stupid routine but at least I got to tell people about Absolute Evil and how I would change the world. I tried one way, but that failed miserably, so I've yet to figure out another way.

"Let's go visit Tenrou," the old man said after today's round of apology visits.

The mention of her name clenched my heart.

Tenrou has been in a coma ever since the whole fiasco ended. Soon after I had jumped away from the heroes that night, she collapsed out of exhaustion and she's been in the hospital since then.

The other heroes recovered pretty well despite their nuclear poisoning and wounds, thanks to Metal Knight's full body maintenance, but the woman wasn't looking too good.

The old man looked at me. I had my lips pursed and looking away from him uncomfortably.

"You've not visited her ever since she was hospitalized," he reminded.

I didn't deserve to show my face to her, even if she was unconscious.

"I'm not coming," I insisted.

The old man sighed. "I won't force you but if you do choose to see her one of these days, she's at S-city's hero hospital in room 348."

"I don't need that information," I told him.

The old man chuckled, "Whatever you say, my son."

My son. He had been calling me that lately. It was weird, but it kind of made me happy. I've never had the luxury of loving parents, so this was, well, different.

The old man had me return to the dojo and we parted ways. I walked down the roads of the now rebuilt S-city, and passed by a parking lot with a familiar looking metal barricade. Ah, I brawled with Meathead Bat here. I looked at the circular storm drain cover, and found a different one sitting right where I had jumped down from the barricade.

I sighed and raised my eyes above the parking lot, where I could see the after-image of that centipede, the one that tore her hair into shreds. I moved away, not wanting to think of the centipede, Metal Bat, or of the woman.

I continued walking. I'm so bored. I got nothing to do, nobody to hunt. It feels like this wolf has become a vegetarian.

The old man is "rehabilitating" me or whatever that is. He's laid out a plan for me to integrate back into society as a functional member. Sounds like a pain, but whatever, the old guy is concerned enough to do so much for me. The least I can do is go along with it.

My legs ran on autopilot as I was lost in my thoughts and I found myself standing in front of the building Tenrou lived in. It sustained a bit of damage, but was in more or less good condition.