Return of the Fallen Volume 4 Chapter 105
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Author: Blue_Rat
ch105
Light had faded from the sky a while ago and left a crimson orangish hue lingering in the distance until finally, the moon hung high up above. Day had become night and everyone had retreated back to a small home. Everyone again was sitting around a large table, well everyone except little Mei. Her mother had tucked her in bed not too long ago and put her to sleep for the night. She had begged and pleaded with her mother to allow her to stay up and play with everyone but Tsura was adamant and would hear none of it.
In protest, Mei was finally escorted away.
A few moments later and Tsura returned. Sitting down between Nunully and Asuna, the atmosphere filled with animosity back at the beginning in the restaurant was now one of calm and relaxation. Kazuki’s ring lit up and a large bottle came out from his ring. Popping the cork, a strong yet attractive smell wafted around the room.
Pouring everyone a glass, he passed them all around. When he gave a cup to Kimi, he said nothing and neither did she but her expression was no longer one filled with hate. It wasn’t exactly kindness either but at least she no longer looked as if she wished to gouge his heart out and stomp it to a bloody paste.
Asuna sniffed at her cup and felt it was quite pleasant of an aroma.
“What is this, it smells wonderful?”
Nunully inhaled deeply and answered.
“This, let me guess, is it Roschec.”
Kazuki nodded.
“How could you tell?”
Nunully smelled it again.
“The smell is a huge giveaway. Like a sweet berry combined with a flower blooming in spring. Living in the brothel for so long many wines and liquors were passed through the place on a daily basis. Growing up I became bored easily and my mother taught me a few things about alcohol. A woman must have a nose for delicate things or so she would say. Besides that though, this wine is one that a lot like but it’s also very distinctive and this color, not many drinks are blue like this one. Being in the north where the Roschec fruit is a staple, it wasn’t hard to determine what it was.”
Everyone became surprised. They didn’t expect her to know so much about alcohol but it made sense giving where she lived. If you grew up around it all the time, it’s not surprising you’d pick up a thing or two about it.
Asuna grabbed Nunully’s hand, fascinated that she knew such things.
“Nunully that’s amazing, you could tell exactly what kind of wine it is just from those few clues?”
Nunully suddenly felt a little shy from such words. She never really got compliments about something she deemed useless and didn’t know how to take it, especially from someone she considered a rival in some sense.
Shin picked up the bottle and chuckled.
“Hehe, I could tell as well, do you know how?”
Shin then turned the bottle around and the label was visible for all to see and right on the bottle it said Roschec, 5004.
Kazuki and Sam both shared a laugh with Shin over that fact. Kazuki teased Nunully a bit.
“So this is how you actually knew.”
Nunully denied it.
“What, I…No way.”
Kazuki’s grin became wider and he laughed.
“I’m kidding.”
Nunully’s cheeks puffed up a tiny bit and a shade of red went to her face. Nunully then took the cup in her hand and threw it back, draining it all in three or four gulps before slapping the cup on the table.
“Is no one else having any?”
Shin stood up.
“Nice one Nun.”
He then proceeded to drain his cup as well before smacking his lips a couple of times.
*smk smk*
“Mmmm, now that’s sweet. Not too sweet and it mellows in your mouth as it’s going down. Kazuki, let me get some more of that.”
Kazuki obliged and poured both he and Nunully a new cup. Kazuki then held up his cup.
“You all might be wondering why you’re here right now. I know we’re not close and I know you all feel a certain way about me and I understand that. However, I don’t think Danny would want us to be in such a mood…”
Kazuki paused halfway through and something kept bothering him.
(Should I tell them about Danny. Should they know?…)
Everyone could tell something was bothering Kazuki but he refused to address whatever it was. Instead, he pushed away useless thoughts and continued what he was saying.
“Anyway. Danny here’s to you.”
Kazuki drained his cup in one gulp and poured another right after. Everyone else drank to Danny as well. Everyone went ahead with the drinking as though there was no tomorrow. Between all of them, they emptied 8 bottles and ran through a dozen plates of snacks all on their own.
Laying about lazily, they all were relaxed and Kazuki wanted to ask them what their plans were but at the same time, he didn’t think he had the right to. Instead, he thought he’d simply tell them what he was planning for now.
“Tomorrow…”
Kazuki said this word loudly and grabbed everyone’s attention all at once.
“Tomorrow, I, Nunully, Tsura, and Mei will be leaving Gentis. After we resupply, we’ll head out, on our way to the Rin mountain range. After that, I’ll find someplace I can tuck away to train. I don’t think we’ll see one another after we leave. So I just wanted to tell you all a few things about this world, about the people in it.”
Nunully heard this and got worried.
“Wait a minute! You can’t just drop me off and leave me with my mother’s friend. That…That’s far too soon. You can’t leave like that, you can’t.”
Kazuki shook his head.
“I have to go. I have to train and grow stronger. All of this running around, it’s been nothing but a detractor on my progress. How am I to get revenge if I’m this weak?”
Nunully couldn’t take it. She grabbed Kazuki and held him tight.
“Why…why do you have to seek revenge? Why do you have to throw your life away, for what?”
Kazuki didn’t push Nunully away but his tone was unyielding.
“You’ve seen my memories. How can I not seek revenge? They killed him…they killed my only family, my brother Kai, right in front of me. Even now, he’s suff…”
Kazuki didn’t finish his sentence. How could they possibly understand that a piece of his brother’s soul still remained and that his brother was a fragment of himself? A tiny powerless piece that could do nothing against Fera and their mother. If Kazuki didn’t do something about this injustice who would? No, more than that, more than just mere revenge. Fera was a queen who literally ruled over millions. The cruelty and atrocities she must have committed, how can Kazuki simply do nothing.
He didn’t believe in absolute good or absolute evil but if such a thing were to exist, there was no doubt his sister and mother were the closest things to evil. Someone that can plan against you for more than a decade and then stab you in the back with no remorse. What else could describe those that commit such acts?
Kimi snorted before slamming her cup on the table.
*Hmph*
“So, in the end, you want the same thing I wanted, revenge. You preached at me and even have little Nunully over here to bow down before us and defend your ass but yet, you’re still going to get revenge. You’re a fucking hypocrite. How can you actually sit there and tell us all this shit with a straight face.”
Asuna grabbed Kimi’s sleeve.
“That’s a bit much, lets just stop.”
Kimi shook her off.
“Stop, stop what? Are you really trying to take his side? Fine Kazuki, you win, After what Nunully explained I get it, I don’t blame you for whats happened to me but how is your anger valid and mine isn’t? How can you be so…fuck…”
Kimi’s eyes filled with tears and she became wobbly either from the drinks, her emotions, or both. She fell on her ass, rubbing her tears out of her face but no matter how much she wiped at them, they just kept flooding down.
“It’s not right, it just isn’t.”
Kazuki sighed inwardly.
“Kimi, your anger, is completely valid. Whats happened to you and Danny, to all of you, you all have the right to be angry. I never said you shouldn’t be. And your right. I can be a hypocrite. I am petty deep down. I want revenge, I deserve to have it and I will carry it out. That however doesn’t mean you should do it. Why become like me, why stoop to my level. Why should you always hold hatred in your heart as I do? This feeling, this agony, I’ve held onto it for far too long and at one point I truly let it all go, I really did. I was ready to live a normal life and just let it be but you saw my memories. They came again for me and in the process, they killed my granny master. Even if I stopped right now, even if I vanished and hid away in the deep mountains like a hermit for the rest of my life, it would not matter. Just like how Reya came for me, there will be others. My sister, even if she believes me to be weak, to be of no threat, it doesn’t matter. The fact that I’m alive, means that she and my mother have failed to kill me multiple times. They believe that I’ll come for them anyway. So why should I disappoint them? I can’t go back or I’ll die. I have to move forward or I’ll die. You though, you all are different. Flee to Jin, flee to Maoudou. If you’re in one of the other three kingdoms, Garn can’t touch you, you all should be safe.”
No one knew what to say to all of that. They didn’t even think about his situation like that until now. How could they deny it though? His sister and mother had tried to kill him on multiple occasions, for what reason would they stop hunting him. In the end, it came down to who died first. Kazuki’s revenge wasn’t just revenge. It was survival. Even if he fled to another world, they would still hunt him. What choice did he truly have? To lie down and wait for them. To just give up and die. No, Kazuki would fight, he would push forward and he would destroy everything in his path until the deed was done.
Kazuki picked up the bottle beside him and tipped it up draining it.
Shin and Sam stood up as well. The two grabbed a bottle apiece and they clanked it together. drinking it all down, they clanked the bottles together with Kazuki’s before slamming them down on the table, breaking it to pieces. Neither one spoke a word to Kazuki but they all shared a look of understanding. A look as though they finally got it. Asuna as well wasn’t one to be left out. She drained a bottle and dropped it where the table should have been and it crashed on the ground.
“I get it now. I kept wondering why one would go so far. It’s not just about your brother. If you just sit around, they’ll just keep coming. Not only that but your sister Fera is even aligned with Azirians. She’s your enemy and because she orders Azirian’s around, that makes her the world’s enemy, and since I live in this world, that makes her my enemy as well right? Kazuki…”
Asuna made up her mind and a flash of determination filled her eyes.
“I’m coming with y…”
*Thud*
Before Asuna could finish her sentence, she fell backward and passed out piss drunk.
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