Epiphany || Izana Kurokawa

4 • Black Dahlia

"A dream you once were,
A dream of all my realities,
A dream I can no long strive for
In the wake of my manly betayals."

-C. Elizabeth

-·~•♪°♪•~·-

Once upon a time, a woman fell in love.

Once upon a time, a woman was willing to do everything for a man.

Takemichi trembled in fear as he sat on the floor with hands on his mouth, staring at the person sitting on his bed, with their back facing him.

In the middle of the night, the black-haired man woke up covered in cold sweat after being awoken from a nightmare. With shaking legs, he had staggered towards the kitchen to get himself a cup of water; his eyes widening in fear as he felt cold air touching his skin, coming from the abnormally opened window of his apartment.

Mindlessly grabbing a knife from his kitchen drawer, Takemichi roamed his apartment, seeking for any intruders while being on guard. After seeing no signs of intrusion, apart from the opened window, Takemichi finally decided to go back to his room to call for Naoto, only to regret it as his knees suddenly gave up at the sight of a person sitting on his bed.

The nightmare he had... was horrible. He was being chased by an unknown entity, resulting him to become so tense and afraid after he woke up. He couldn't muster the courage to stand up and run for it, he couldn't bring himself to speak either. He felt as though he was stuck, fear invaded his veins resulting into his inability to rationally think. He had covered his mouth with his hands out of instinct but something within him was already aware that his presence was already known to the mysterious person seated. Yet, he still covered his mouth as he fearfully stared at the unknown person.

"Takemichi Hanagaki, right?", the person spoke without turning to face Takemichi, who was trembling in fear.

Gathering up the small amount of courage he could muster, after a few seconds, Takemichi finally replied, "W-who are you, and what do you want?"

Silence fell and enveloped the room for a couple of seconds before Takemichi received a reply which he was unsure whether he should fear or be grateful for.

"The person you seek.", the person then turned towards his direction, Takemichi's eyes widened in fear and shock in realization. There, seated on his bed, was the person who made the current timeline a living nightmare, Minamoto Y/N. Her dead and empty eyes stared back at Takemichi's fearful blue eyes. She then stood up and walked slowly towards Takemichi who attempted to crawl away in fear, "W-what do you want from me?!"

Has she come to kill him? Was that it? But why? Takemichi didn't do anything to her! Heck, they haven't even formally met each other yet! Yet, why was she here?

"Stay back!", Takemichi yelled as he attempted to grab the knife that he had dropped, yet was kicked to the other side of the room by none other than Y/N who was towering him already. Takemichi gulped in fear. At that angle, he was able to see the woman up close, but not that close, only close enough where he felt like his neck was going to snap in half once he spoke. The woman then stopped in front of him and sat on the floor while hugging her knees as she tilted her neck to gaze at Takemichi who was doing everything he can to avoid her gaze.

"If I do not want anything from you, you would have been dead by now.", Y/N plainly said, with no emotions whatsoever laced on her voice.

Takemichi understood that. He understood that very well. Yet, at that moment, he didn't know whether it was a good thing that she needed something from him which keeps him alive for the mean time or being dead is better. What could a renowned murderer who has single-handedly massacred an entire organization and an entire clan like her who the authorities has trouble catching and has escaped from a prison with tight security possibly want from him anyway? He wanted the answer to that, yet, he cannot bring himself to utter the words.