The torrential flow did not stop. He rushed forward at breakneck speed. The cold water enveloped them and tried to draw out every last bit of warmth remaining in their young bodies.
He was being carried along. He couldn't move. The wild pain made even thinking impossible. Only occasionally did the river's current allow him a breath. He couldn't do anything. He was powerless against the raging stream.
Whenever he raised his head, heavy drops of cold rain struck his face. Each impact felt like it pierced straight into his skull, splitting it apart.
The pain in his back from the wound was growing worse. Blood poured out faster and faster. The agony crippled every attempt to act.
The cold…
It gripped him tighter and tighter. The icy water wrapped around him like chains, giving him no chance to survive.
He was fading…
His body wouldn't obey…
His strength was slipping away…
He clenched his fingers.
Then—he felt something in his hands.
He came to his senses abruptly!
"Tetsu! Tatsu!"
The names flashed through his consciousness. He remembered everything. They were running. Fast! As fast as they could. They were being chased.
He remembered that bridge and decided to run across it. But the shinigami caught up with them and struck. Hotaru was pierced by a wild pain and he fell into the river.
He had been holding their hands. They were with him.
"Run! Take them and run!" — he seemed to hear Karasumaru's cry again.
He had to survive! He had to save them!
He tore himself free from the darkness gripping him, as if a new strength had awakened inside. He began to kick his feet. The turbulent current was strong, blocking his path at every turn, but Hotaru did not give up. He had to save the twins. He would make it.
He couldn't see anything. The rain was so heavy it swallowed the world whole, turning everything into a gray wall. But Hotaru knew that to reach the shore, he had to swim across the current. He paddled as best he could. He couldn't use his hands — he clutched their small palms with all his might. He was terrified of letting go. Even for a moment.
Just a little more.
Just a little bit more! He could feel it! He believed in himself!
"Hang on!" he shouted to them. "Just a little more! I can do it!"
He swam. He didn't know how long. Several times he felt his strength fail, felt the cold sink its claws into his bones, felt despair rise like the river's own current. But each time, a new surge of strength helped him not to give up! He had to save them. He didn't care about himself. The twins were all that mattered.
He tried not to think about the others. About what they had done to Honoka-san. What had happened to Andy-san. How they had treated Grandpa Bori.
And most of all — what was happening to Karasumaru now.
That last thought tore at him more than anything. His friend had stayed behind to delay them. But what had happened after? Deep down, he knew… yet he pushed those thoughts away. The twins were more important. They had to be.
Fatigue again. Weakness again.
But this time, there was no new surge of strength.
That's it… I couldn't do it… I didn't make it… Forgive me…
He was ready to surrender when his feet suddenly touched the bottom.
. That was the signal!
He had made it!
One last push! Just a little more—
He collapsed on the wet, dirty shore. Somehow he crawled into the grass and rolled onto his back, unmoving.
He was breathing heavily. He had never swum so far in his life. He had never done so much.
"I did it…" he smiled weakly. "We did it…"
He turned his head to the left with difficulty.
There was no one there…
Hotaru froze, staring in that direction...
"Tetsu?" he whispered, slowly turning to the right.
It was empty…
"Tatsu…?"
But he felt something in his hands.
He raised his trembling palms and unfurled his fingers.
Gloves.
Their gloves.
The ones left behind by their father.
"Tetsu… Tatsu…" he croaked.
And then he understood everything.
He had lost them.
All this time… he had only been holding the gloves.
"No…"
He stumbled to his feet and ran to the river. "No…"
His eyes darted desperately across the churning surface, trying to spot them. But no one was visible.
"No…"
He fell to his knees.
His whole body shook. Horrific images flashed through his mind.
He hadn't let them go. He hadn't.
Where did he get that strength? Where did it come from?
The realisation of what had happened pierced his soul like a spear
"NO-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O—!"
He beat the ground with his hands. Sharp pebbles pricked his thin arms painfully. Blood flowed down them.
"No! No! No! NO!"
Bitter tears poured down his cheeks.
"A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A—!"
He cried out, he begged the heavens and the Soul King.
"It's my fault!
It's me!
I killed them!
I couldn't hold them!
I killed!
KILLED THEM!
No! No!"
Images flashed before his eyes. How he had played with them. How much fun they had had.
His family.
His friends.
Everything he had.
Gone.
It was them!
It was all them!
They had done this!
The shinigami… They are to blame for everything. They are the ones Karasumaru brought with, and they betrayed their home. They deceived everyone. They killed everyone. Traitors!
They betrayed everyone!
Honoka-san. Andy-san. Old man Bori.
Tetsu. Tatsu.
Karasumaru…
A wave of reiatsu burst from him, shoving aside the river and the rain itself!
Grief turned into wild rage!
A terrifying force erupted from his soul — What had been sealed by the doctor burst out and became a black aura!
"I hate you!!! I HATE YOU!!!" he roared at the sky.
"I HATE YOU, SHINIGAMI!!!"
The cry — no, the beast's roar — echoed across the land, driving every living creature into hiding.
He raised his head to the cold, gray sky.
Icy raindrops struck his face.
He didn't blink.
The gaze that once belonged to a kind boy was gone.
Only hatred remained.
"I SWEAR…
I WILL DESTROY YOU ALL!!!
ALL OF YOU, SHINIGAMI!!!…"