DΛЯK DΣᄂIGΉƬƧ

Pulse: Part 2

The world was still spinning when Eustass finally opened his eyes, the faint scent of incense filling his nose. His body felt heavy, his mind fogged as though someone had pressed a thick blanket over his thoughts. He sat at the back of a small, dark room. It was cold and sterile. People sat in neat rows, dressed in black, their heads bowed in silent grief. The funeral.

Eustass blinked, trying to gather his bearings. The last thing he remembered was his brother—the blood—and the gut-wrenching punch that had knocked him out. Now, he was here, alone at his family's funeral. News got out fast, as expected when you have a family as big as his.

His mother wasn't with him. No one was. She was away for work again, probably wrapped up in some WEA mission or another, leaving him to deal with everything by himself. He hadn't spoken much to anyone about what had happened—about the sight of his brother standing over their extended family, the blood still fresh on the floor of their mansion. No one asked him. No one seemed to care.

The words of the eulogies passed him by, distant and blurry. He couldn't focus, his thoughts swirling like an endless, chaotic storm. He felt untethered, lost in a sea of confusion. Why did this happen? Why now? Why them?

The school week dragged on. The days blurred together, one melting into the next. Eustass floated through it all like a ghost, only half-aware of what was happening around him. He sat at his desk, the same desk where he'd once drifted off in the heat, but now, the weight on his chest was something else entirely.

The teachers noticed, of course. They always noticed when someone's grades slipped. His once-steady test scores had started dropping, his essays turned in late, if at all. They asked him if he was okay, but he brushed them off with vague answers. What else was he supposed to say?

His days felt empty, except for Josei. She was always there, rambling on about whatever nonsense was on her mind. Her Beyblade obsession. Her latest figurine. The arcade. Things that had once made him laugh now barely registered. He just nodded along, his gaze distant, lost somewhere in the distance beyond her animated gestures. He existed in her company, her words a constant hum in the background. He wanted to care, but it felt like he was drifting further and further away from everything. She noticed.

One day, Josei snapped.

"Roof. Now," she ordered, grabbing him by the wrist and dragging him upstairs before he could protest.

They stood there, the wind gently tugging at Josei's orange pigtails, making them dance in the afternoon breeze. The usual lightness in her expression was gone. Her eyes were serious, piercing, as she stared him down.

"Talk."

Eustass shifted uncomfortably, his hands in his pockets. He hadn't told anyone about what happened. Not the full story, at least. He didn't even know if he could explain it. He opened his mouth, but no words came out at first.

"I don't... I don't know what's happening," he finally muttered, his voice barely above a whisper. "I'm just... confused. My brother... the bodies... everything just feels wrong."

Josei crossed her arms, waiting.

"It's like nothing makes sense anymore," Eustass continued, his voice trembling slightly. "I don't know why he did it. I don't even know if I can understand it. He... he said I need to be 'free' before I even think of looking for him, but what does that even mean?"

Josei stayed quiet for a long moment, her sharp gaze softening just slightly. Then she simply said, "You're an idiot, you know that?"

Eustass blinked. That wasn't exactly what he'd expected.

"You're carrying this all on your own, and for what? You think you have to figure this out by yourself or something?" Josei's tone wasn't unkind, but it had a weight to it. "You're not alone, Eustass. So stop acting like it."

Eustass stared at her, the wind rustling through the quiet. Josei's words, simple as they were, hit him in a way nothing else had. He didn't know what to say.

"Come on," she said, grabbing his wrist again. "We're skipping. I don't care what you say. You need this."

They retraced the steps of their past. First, the arcade—the bright lights and loud music a stark contrast to the dark cloud hanging over him. Josei failed at the dancing game again, and for a brief moment, Eustass managed to chuckle, though the sound felt distant, like it belonged to someone else.

Then the local comic store, where they'd spent far too much time and money on snacks and figurines. The aisles felt familiar, comforting in their routine as they passed the shelves filled with colorful boxes and old memories.

Finally, the "cursed" rock—the spot where they had once found a caterpillar emerging from its chrysalis, a strange, almost magical moment. The rock still sat there, as unchanged as ever, a relic of their friendship and their strange little adventures. Eustass felt a strange pang of nostalgia, his mind wandering back to simpler times.

As they walked, Josei brought the conversation back to the one thing neither of them could avoid—his brother.

"So," she asked carefully, "what do you think he meant by 'be free'?"

Eustass hesitated, his steps slowing. "My family's... complicated," he began. "Primarily run by women. They're the strong ones. The men... we were treated more like house servants. My brother and I grew up with that. Always under their thumb, always following their rules."

Josei listened quietly, nodding for him to continue.

"Our mom... she moved us up in the clan, higher than we'd been before, so we had more freedom than some of the other men. But even then, there was still this long list of rules. What we could say, what we could do. What was expected of us...it was suffocating."

Josei's eyes narrowed slightly. "So... is that why your brother snapped? Because of the rules?"

Eustass didn't answer right away. His footsteps slowed to a stop, his gaze dropping to the ground. "I don't know," he said finally, his voice low. "He and I... we stopped talking for a while after he went to college. He got distant. Cold. Maybe... maybe I should have reached out."

He let out a deep breath, his mind spinning again with thoughts that refused to settle. "Honestly, I—"

Suddenly, the ground in front of them shifted. The air seemed to thicken, a strange, heavy pressure settling over them. From the earth, a grotesque shape began to emerge.

A giant caterpillar-like creature crawled out from the shadows, its body twisted and dark, the texture of its skin almost like decaying flesh. Its face—a skull, hollow and lifeless—tilted towards them, its finger-like legs twitching as it moved with unnatural grace. Where its mouth should have been, there was a gaping, grotesque hole, shaped like a distorted, twisted butthole, oozing blood-soaked silk that trailed behind it.

The sight of it sent a chill down Eustass's spine.

"Holy crap," Josei whispered, eyes wide.

The creature loomed over them, its grotesque form casting a long, dark shadow across the path.