Laughter Of Despair.
A psychological coping mechanism—often called gallows humor—where intense, mirthless laughter emerges from situations of extreme stress, fear, or hopelessness.
Something which fit me so well right now that I couldn't stop the mirth exploding out of me.
I didn't mean to, but my mind thought it was necessary before I might black out instead.
Everything started when I entered the station again, thinking of meeting Maki and others and being done with it. And as soon as I did that, my eyes remained wide open in disbelief at what I was seeing.
I couldn't understand how this was possible. I was certain he went the other way, so how come?
By the time I reached the underground levels of Shibuya Station, my breathing had already turned uneven, my chest rising and falling in sharp, strained motions as I forced myself forward.
To be certain Mahito wouldn't chase me, I ran all the way in the most direct route possible. I probably wasn't as fast as that soul freak, but still I believed I would have seen him coming on the way if he was.
The dim artificial lights flickered overhead, casting long shadows across the empty corridors, and for a brief moment I thought I might have actually managed to create some distance.
There he was.
How? I have no idea, I didn't even sense his curse energy, when the hell did he come here? Am I missing something here?
Mahito didn't rush in, he just looked at me with his usual nonchalant glance, he almost behaved like he didn't even know me until then.
Bizarre, if anything... the way he behaved and the way he was here so fast. A chill ran up my spine at how creepy the look he was giving me, smiling with that nonchalant smile of his at me.
"Are you here to play?" He asked.
There was no overwhelming blast of force, no immediate attempt to rush at me.
"Play huh..." I murmured with a chuckle breaking out of my mouth.
"Playing, yes..hahahaha..."
And that was when I felt like something inside me broke. The sanity holding on thin ice shattered so magnificently that I had to laugh.
"Yes, yes... of course hahaha."
"God, isn't this what it is for you. A game." I snapped, voice uneven, anger and despair boiling together into something I didn't wish to address.
What could I possibly have said? Complained about why I was the one being targeted like that? Would that have accomplished something?
Mahito blinked, looking at the laughing human with complicated eyes. Did the human lose it or something?
I kept on laughing, to the point I felt my stomach start to cramp. Irrespective of Mahito calmly watching over me, I laughed.
And when I stopped, I had tears trailing down my cheeks, this laughing does that to you.
I slowly wiped them away, and looked at Mahito still waiting patiently, standing there. Observing me with the same kind of educational curiosity a zoologist might show upon finding a new species of animal or insect.
He stood a short distance away, his posture relaxed, his expression almost amused as if this entire situation was nothing more than entertainment to him. Which most likely it was, and that made me even angrier.
"My, you look terrible," he said lightly, tilting his head as though genuinely curious. "Did something fun happen before this?"
Fun?
That was fun?
This son of a b*tch thinks me dying three times over and getting chased halfway across the city was fun.
I gritted my teeth hard with irritation. The bastard was getting on my nerves.
"Fine..."
"Huh?" He blinked.
I looked at him with bloodshot eyes, irritation climbing higher and higher.
"You wanna play right, I'll play."
"Really!" Mahito's eyes shone like someone offered him a new toy.
"Yeah..." I smiled back, "Let's have a good time together."
I don't care, I'm punching him to Sunday. No more running. If I don't get something to punch right now then I'll explode.
My eyes fell onto his hands. Those were dangerous. If he touched me, even once, it was over.
My rational mind, if there was any left, screamed at me that this was suicide. Which it most likely was.
But damn it, I would rather die than keep moping about my disastrous luck.
Mahito moved first, his body shifting forward in a smooth, almost lazy motion, but the speed behind it was anything but casual. His arm extended, fingers stretching unnaturally as he reached for me, and I reacted immediately, throwing myself backward just as his hand passed through the space where my chest had been a fraction of a second earlier.
Too close. And I knew he was faster. This was a very bad idea.
I didn't wait for him to recover from the motion. I stepped in.
If I kept running, I would just die slower. I have to hit.
So I punched.
Cursed energy surged through my arm, but this time it wasn't the same raw, instinctive flow I had been relying on before. I forced something else into it, something far more difficult to maintain, something that fought against my instincts instead of following them.
Reverse cursed energy.
My fist connected with his side, and the reaction was immediate. The experience I had fighting Mahoraga, seeing how he actually output raw positive energy as a weapon, surely had motivated this move.
Mahito's expression twisted like a yo-yo, changing colors faster than the neon lights of Shibuya, his body recoiling as if struck by something far more dangerous than a normal attack. The point of impact distorted violently, his form rippling unnaturally as if it was rejecting what I had just forced into it.
Curses are beings made of curse energy. And reverse curse technique is the exact opposite of that, needless to say, for curses, reverse curse energy acts like poison. Ironic since it was nothing but pure elixir and life-saving grace for humans.
He staggered back a step. The impact area was completely burned off, smoking while sizzling hot.
Mahito's eyes widened at the impact he just received and then at me.
However, instead of the angry look I was expecting out of him, what I got was a sinister grin.
The distortion smoothed out almost instantly as his body reshaped itself, the damage disappearing as if it had never been there. He straightened, his hand brushing lightly over the spot where I had struck him, his expression shifting from mild curiosity to something more interested.
"That's new," he murmured.
My lips pursed up. For sure I thought that would help, but apparently not. RCT can only damage his physical body, his soul was completely intact.
If only my output with RCT was higher like Mahoraga's sword, then surely I could have outright evaporated his entire body. Nothing to come back from.
Sigh...
For once anger started to settle down and I realised just how badly I was suited to fight this curse. Earlier decision to run away was far wiser.
But I was nothing else but stubborn, especially after so much had happened.
I stepped forward again, forcing my body to keep moving despite the strain, despite how unnatural it felt to maintain the flow of reverse cursed energy through my fists. Every second I used it drained me faster.
RCT wasn't just new to me but it was also harder, much harder to maintain than normal curse energy manipulation.
So I made sure to make my punches count.
I swung again.
He avoided it this time, his body bending at an unnatural angle as my fist passed just inches from his face. His counter came immediately, his hand snapping toward my shoulder, and I twisted away just in time, feeling the air shift as his fingers missed me by a hair's breadth.
Death was inches away and I was playing hero. How stupidly hopeless.
But the thought of giving up didn't cross my mind. I really, really wanted to punch the bastard, in a way he could feel it.
I pressed forward again, throwing another punch, then another, each one reinforced with reverse cursed energy, each one forcing him to adjust, to avoid, to reshape himself around the attacks.
They merely touched him, and the damage would always heal up as soon as it was done. That curse technique of his was broken AF.
"NO... I can't keep this up, I'll exhaust myself using RCT before I even land a single punch at him." I grumbled, seeing the problem with my strategy.
Meanwhile, Mahito wasn't giving me any time to think.
Every movement he made carried the same threat, every reach of his hand a potential end. I had to watch him constantly.
Suddenly, his hands started to elongate, turning into long snake-like vines, shooting right at me.
'Shit...'
I hurriedly backed up, dodging the hands the best I could have, when it happened.
I was so focused on the hands that I almost forgot where Mahito himself was. Using his elongated hands, he had distracted me and suddenly appeared right behind me.
Time slowed down. His tongue came out, elongated as well, and formed a third hand in the air.
As gross as it was, the grossness of the act never crossed me because that was an incoming death sentence at me.
He had gotten me at point-blank range...
xXx
A/N : Ah, he is losing it slowly. Anyone would after almost dying a dorzen of time in last hour or so. As for fighting Mahito, it would be pretty hard, any idea who he can do that ?
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