Inai Ni Yami ((Within Darkness)) {{FINISHED}}

Chapter 42 ((Rikka))

Chapter 42

I knew what went on within the other side of Keisuke’s barrier, and even so I stayed silent watching with dulled eyes as Daisuke pounded against the wall of chains. Through my twin’s eyes, I saw what she’d done, how she’d done it and exactly what she was planning to do afterwards. Though I should’ve acted in some way, warned the others of what was to happen, I stayed silent. 

I closed my mind to the world and watched through numbed eyes as Keisuke took his own life with his chains out of pure panic and fear of what Yuki’s robotic corpse would do to him. The moment his systems went down and dead, the chains retreated from their places on the opposite walls, dropping lifelessly to the ground. The sight left before us was one of nothing but jet black ink, the liquid having exploded from the lover’s bodies. The picture was wrong and yet right in so many ways, the stark white the opposite of the jet black splatters, the contrasting colors surrounding two colorful bodies that no longer moved, nor functioned. And beside all that, on the ground the ink had been used to scrawl out in a messy print: 

Watch out for yourself. It wouldn’t be good if you were separated from the group. 

In my mind, the message was directed straight towards me, as my twin had said she was looking for both me and her so-called-sister, but looking at the faces and expressions of everyone else in the group, it was likewise they all also found the threat pointed towards themselves individually. A quick image flickered within the recesses of my mind, that of a clock slowly counting the time down, inky blood dripping from the handles. The hour hand, which had been resting at the three, moved down two to the five. 

At each hour, there was a face:

Steve

Takeyama

Rio

Yuki 

Keisuke

The rest of the numbers did not have a solid face, but instead interchanged through the remaining faces of the seven kagami: 

Daisuke

Eve

Rikka

Rikka

Rio

Zakiya

Akiya

The picture fazed out as the group slowly went forward. Selfish, my twin’s voice rang out, a voice only I could hear. Have they no regrets that I just destroyed two of their precious friends. In response to that, I slammed down all mental walls, ignoring the voice for as long as possible without overusing my abilities. From up ahead, Daisuke shook his head. 

“She’s trying to pick us off, one by one. That little tip back there is proof, so if anyone gets lost or separated, be prepared to fight, do you hear me?” Stiff nods went around, no one really voicing their choices. 

Cowards, the thought slipped past the mental barrier, barely heard but still there.

I followed behind them as always, the silent princess without emotions. Oh, if only they knew how much I felt. How much I wished  could be emotionless. It would save me from having to deal with their own emotions. Directly ahead of me, Rio continued to mull over how depressing his life was and how useless he was. Then there was the Dorei that had been under a the guise of being a Kurai. A cloud of despair hung over her, and even though she though no one knew of her intentions and what she really was for, I knew. And I didn’t believe in it. 

Daisuke, on the other hand, he was in another world it seemed. His thoughts kept drifting, computer codes and hacked files going through his mind as he tried to figure out a way past the problem of my twin. He really thought too much about things. The answer was simple. Kill Rikka. But to kill her meant…