Parallel Vol. 4 [LEGACY EDITION]

Chapter 73.2: Kashi and Lunette (2)

Kashi and Lunette stared at each other, shock and confusion in their eyes. Kashi recovered first, panic in his eyes as he asked, "You know my father!? Why did you call him Rai-Sensei?"

"Father?" Lunette muttered in disbelief. "Rai-Sensei is your father? How can that be?" Her eyes widened as realization struck. "Wait... then, it can't be; you're Su?"

Boom!

Kashi stumbled backward like a thunderbolt had struck him. Memories of a bespectacled man with a charming smile flooded his brain. He could feel the man's warm hands as he patted Suzuki's head. He heard his pride-filled voice.

"Don't cry, Su. A man's tears are sacred." "That's my boy." "Hey, Su, what do you think about skydiving?" "Hehe... only my boy Su can beat me at this game."

Kashi grimaced as he recalled Suzuki's father's favorite phrase. The phrase Suzuki had heard ad-nauseum, to the point he could recite it from memory.

"Very soon, Su... I'll be finished with this project soon, and we'll have all the time in the world to ourselves."

Kashi recalled how much Suzuki hated that project. It was always that damned project with his father. It was that project that pulled him away from his family, resulting in Suzuki's mom suffering a mental breakdown. However, instead of helping her, he left Suzuki to endure the mess, always claiming that the project would fix everything.

Everything came back to that project. If Suzuki's father had not spent so much time on it, he might not have been so exhausted while driving to the tournament finals. If he had not been exhausted, he might have been more alert and reacted quicker when dodging that deer. They might not have crashed.

That would not have happened. Suzuki would not have been forced to make the biggest mistake of his life.

Everything came back to that damned project.

'Ugh,' Kashi winced as he clutched his chest. A searing heat had begun to rise as Suzuki's rising rage began to spill over.

"Kashi?" Lunette asked in a worried tone as she rushed over to him. "Are you—"

"Stay Back!" screamed Kashi as he glared at the songstress with a hate-filled, loathful gaze.

"Sis, stand back," Shadow warned as he grabbed Lunette and pulled her behind him. The assassin's eyes wavered as he stood between his sister and the man he admired most in all worlds. "Kashi... are you alright?"

Kashi let out a sarcastic laugh as he said, "I wonder... Would you be if you were me?"

Shadow's gaze fell. "I... Rai-sensei is important to us. He gave us life. We did not know he is your father."

"Was..." corrected Lunette, her eyes wet with grief and pain. "Was, Shadow. Kashi's father already passed away."

"Rai-Sensei is dead?" Shadow murmured in a hollow voice. With an empty gaze, he said, "So, the reason we were in standby for so long..."

Lunette solemnly nodded as she confirmed, "Yes... he must have passed away."

Thud!

Shadow collapsed to his knees, immense sorrow and guilt reflected in his eyes as he stared at his hands. "All those things I said... The years I cursed him... What have I been doing?"

"I'm sorry, Shadow." Lunette cried as she knelt and hugged her brother from behind. "I'm so sorry."

Kashi watched the crying siblings with increasing hatred and hostility. By this point, it was impossible to tell where Suzuki's anger began, and Kashi's ended. It took all he had to prevent himself from attacking.