Burnt to Ashes - Kenichi Todoroki

This Side of Paradise

Shinju's POV:

"Kenichi, I have to go."

"Well why'd you call me out if you were just gonna go?"

It broke my heart to do this, despite how much I didn't want to admit it. I wasted so much time, too much time. I tried to save him.

But I had to save my brother.

"I wanted to say my last goodbyes," I told him.

"Last goodbyes?" Kenichi echoed.

"I can't stay here, Kenichi," I said, pushing back tears, "I can't. After watching you sacrifice yourself, the police sirens... I was scared, Kenichi. For you to end up the same way Tora did. The memories came rushing back—"

"What?" He interrupted me. "Where the hell are you going? I don't understand... I'm fine now, it's not going to happen again!"

"That's the thing, Kenichi, you've said this before. I can't risk it anymore, man," I told him. "I have to save my brother, y'know?"

"Are you saying I'm holding you back?" He shot at me, clenching his fist. "I'm the reason you got all that money for the bail, I'm the reason why you have even the tiniest chance to save him! I've dedicated my life to you, Shinju!"

"We didn't get enough, not nearly enough," I said. "Listen, even if I stayed, The Bloody Mambas have gone their separate ways, and most don't even want to see Graffiti Alley again. They're traumatized–"

"Don't blame that on me!" Kenichi snapped. "This is your fault, you tricked me! You used me for your stupid little plan, then when I wasn't of use anymore, you're throwing me away! Did you even love me?"

"Kenichi–"

"Did you?" He snapped again, "Or was leading me on a part of your stupid little plan too?"

Many thoughts swirled around in my head, but the main one was how could he say that? After all the time I spent with him...

I sat on the curb and beckoned him to sit down next to me, but he didn't. He stood, fuming and angry as usual.

"I do love you, Kenichi," I told him. "But you have no trust in me. After all these months of you being comatose, I realized that. I realized I have to make something of myself."

I looked up at him and saw tears streaming down his face. Then, his arms turned to lava.

"Woah, woah, Kenichi–"

"You're a coward," Kenichi hissed, "and I'm going to kill you."

He shot lava at me, but I dodged as fast as I could and stayed afoot with my shadow hands. I watched him cover the ground with lava, which although didn't affect me, could possibly put someone else in danger.

"Stop it, Kenichi!" I yelled. "Listen, man, I didn't mean to do this! It's for the best, alright?"

"It's not!" He yelled back. "I wasted all this time on you and you repay me like this! I don't understand what makes you think this is okay!"

Kenichi wasn't understanding me. He probably would never understand me.

I started booking it to my house on my shadow arms, but I knew Kenichi wasn't going to let it slide. He chased after me. When I got away from the lava-filled area, I got off my shadow arms and came to a sudden stop. I felt Kenichi run right into me.

"Kenichi, please just let me go," I whispered.

"We were supposed to last forever," he murmured back. "Does that mean nothing to you anymore? All your words... were they all lies?"