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Last Embryo Volume 4 Chapter 8 Part 2

Homura raised himself from the floor slightly and stared Izayoi dead in the eyes. Then, he saw that his eyes were actually all shiny and glassy, and that tears were slowly welling up in their corners. Honestly, who could have blamed him for finally succumbing to his emotion after all the ridiculous things that he has just been through in rapid succession? He is not some kind of superhero capable of brushing all sorts of physical and mental pressures aside with a wave of his hand as if they were nothing. He is just an ordinary fifteen-years old boy who has been thrown into this larger-than-world intrigue against his will and was doing his best to just go along with the flow of things, dealing with them as they came, so it was inevitable that at some point his spirit – worn out from everything that was happening around him – would simply collapse and break under the weight of responsibility that has been placed upon him by others. However, Izayoi ignored his brother’s tears and simply answered the question that Homura asked him with his usual, lighthearted tone.

「I am sure that you have read the papers that your old man wrote before he began his research on Star Particle Bodies, right? Even though he might have lost himself I his research in the end, it is still true that he was always doing everything with one goal in mind: turning all of the countries in the world into rich and happy ones where no one would have to worry about dieseases anymore. Moreover, he wanted Japan to be the first country in the world to become able to produce and distribute the technology that would make such a miraculous outcome possible so that it could become a role model that all the others would aspire to in the future. I do not know if we should be calling him a mad scientist, Buddha’s second coming or simply an extreme patriot, but I do know one thing for sure. The pain that such a man must have felt when he made the decision to use his own sons as experimental subjects in his research. . . . is it not something that you should seriously consider as his son?」

「. . . . .」

Yes, Izayoi did in fact not held a grudge against his parents. Because he was born with this body of his, he was able to fight for and protect those whom he cared about. Because of this body of his, he was able to live his life according to his own will without bending the knee to anyone else. So if anything, he was thankful to his parents for being born they way he was. If he hated them for it, that would have been nothing but pure hypocrisy. And besides, it is not like Izayoi remembers any of his parents at all, in a sense that he did not spend any time with them at all in the first place. From the moment he was born, he was immediately kidnapped by Canaria and her crew. As far as he could tell, he might have ended up this way because Canaria thought that he was a boy who has naturally harbored Star Particle Bodies inside of him, or maybe it had something to do with the deviation from the fate that Canaria and the others learned about during the Dystopian War. Whatever the case may be, all the people who might have known the answer to those questions are now among the dead. . . . . . but if there was one thing that Izayoi could say with absolute certainty, then it would have to be this: Izayoi would never get himself involved with fate and what it ultimately had in store for him simply because of his rebellious personality. His predecessors might have went through a lot of hardships and suffering, but they never gave up and never stopped fighting. . . . and the result of them believing in the coming of the bright future and taking action in order to make it happen. . . . was the current Sakamaki Izayoi.

「That is why. . . . . . . . I think that the human experiments your father has carried out on us and the ones performed on those Albino girls should be considered as two entirely different things. And remember, fathers across history have been killed over disagreements and misunderstandings smaller and less significant than this one, so do not waste time and energy burdening yourself with things like that, because that is not necessary of you.」

「Heh, using such sweet-sounding words to make people around you see things from your perspective. . . . only you could be so cunning, Big Bro Iza.」

Homura wiped his eyes with his sleeve and raised his head a little bit. Judging by the color of his eyes and how swollen the undersides of his eyes still were he was still far from being completely fine, but for now the fact that he raised his face and listened to what Izayoi had to say without throwing temper tantrums was definitely a step in the right direction, so he simply shrugged his shoulders and laughed at how worried about him he was before continuing on into the main subject:

「Yeah, exactly. Did you not know that one of my many hedonistic hobbies is to use both my high-performance body and big brain to have everyone around me dancing on the palm of my hand to the tune I will choose for them?」

「Yeah, I know that all to well, and that is what has me worried about you, Big Bro Iza. You are a kind person deep down in your heart, but because you act like a complete asshole all the time people always end up not noticing it. . . . no, wait, that is not it, allow me to rephrase that. You are always kind to those who are socially weak and vulnerable and to those who are not of high social standing. Also, you are unconditionally kind and willing to extend a helping hand to those who lack the strength to pull themselves back from the ground and stand up on their own feet. That is why I think you offered to help restore Kuro Usagi’s Community back to their former glory: because they were in a pinch so big that they would have never gotten out of it on their own, and you just could not stand and look at them being treated so unjustly. Am I right?」

That was one of the few times when Homura’s comebacks were so on point that Izayoi did not know what he could say to refute him, so he remained silent. Of course, he was aware of everything that Homura pointed out just now, but having it said right in your face by someone else hit differently than thinking about those things yourself, and it truly embarrassed him to a great degree, so he made a mental note to himself that he should avoid talking about this subject with anyone else who is not Homura to avoid embarrassing himself even further.

He laughed weakly while combing his hair with his hand.

「Even though I know that everything that you just said is true, hearing it directly still hurts my pride like a bitch.」

「Right, which is exactly why I said that in the first place. So now that we have all those pep talks and revelations behind us, I assume you would like to hear about the alternative to Krishna’s approach that I have come up with, right, Big Bro Iza?」

「Heee? You are damn right I want to hear all about it!」

Izayoi leaned forward while erasing the smile from his face and shifting his gears into maximum attention mode.

It would seem that Homura has already came up with an alternative solution to the sacrificing of the two Albino girls that Krishna suggested as the best possible method of saving mankind from certain ruination, but since the things went so south that they have hit Mexico back in the city, he was unable to share his idea with everyone who was present there at the time, but now nothing should stop him from talking about it as much as he wanted.

「As expected of my little brother. Well, what are you waiting for? Go ahead and spill the beans on that great alternative plan of yours already!」

「Do not be so impatient, Big Bro Iza. We will get to that in a minute, but first I have to ask you about something.」