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Chapter 46
“Where does seeking justice end and seeking vengeance begin?”
― This is How it Happened* * * *
July 2006
Shinjuku, Tokyo
‘Damn it, Tatsuya! Where the hell are you?!’
Ren was practically tearing through the streets of Shinjuku in search of his friend. He wasn’t at home. He wasn’t at Miyashita Park. And he most definitely wasn’t at the bar, as Ren had just come from there.
Where could he be?
Ren hit the brakes of his bike when he spied Tatsuya’s motorbike, nearly swerving into a nearby lamppost had he not hit on the brakes of his bike in time. Ren blinked rapidly several times before making his way over to Tatsuya’s motorbike, and started looking in several directions at once, wondering where he co
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An Act of Vengeance Chapter 47
“It is so easy at times for a lonely individual to begin fantasizing about what the people outside are saying about him and, in result, irrationally and fearfully, and sometimes angrily, fancy himself a villain.”―Criss Jami,Healology* * * *She was there again.Always with a smile on her face which almost looks like the sun coming out, and emanating warmth and a comfort that Yuri couldn’t remember ever calling her own. Had she ever felt that warmth before? She can’t remember.But she badly wanted it back, if it had been hers at some point in her life.“Yuri, those were mine!”The voice
An Act of Vengeance Chapter 48
“Did any of them say ‘I’m glad I’m dead because death is better than slavery’? Did any of them say ‘I died for decency and it’s better than being alive’? Did any of them say ‘I’ve been rotting for two years in the earth in silence and darkness, but see how lovely it is to die for your native land’?” - Johnny Got His Gun* * * *Yuri Kirisawa leaned against the headrest of her bed, her right arm tucked beneath her head, staring at nothing in particular. She had locked herself in her room for the past three days ever since Miki’s death, and no one had tried to disturb her for which she is thankful.Not even Ren and Tohya.She desperately needed some time alone.If it’s Yuri…I believe that you can do it. If it’s Yuri…Yuri sighed to herself.
An Act of Vengeance Chapter 49
“And you’d think, wouldn’t you, that if you died you’d spend the last few seconds thinking about what you died for, because a life is a terrible thing to lose.” - Johnny Got His Gun * * * * Yuri stood outside Ren’s room and knocked on his door. “Ren, are you in there? Open up!” she called through the door, but there wasn’t a single sound that could be heard. Tohya frowned from beside her. “Do you think that he could be still asleep?” he asked. “I mean, he was back late from a mission last night after all. Maybe we should let him sleep in. We can do the interrogation with just the two of us.” Early that morning, both Yuri and Tohya were in the recreation room of the dormitory building. It was there that they received word from the Elder that one of the Phantoms had captured a guy who is believed to be working for an agent of Raven’s Gate. And the Elder wished for Tohya, Yuri
An Act of Vengeance Chapter 50
“These young people, these pathetic sacrifices, did any of them die thinking of liberty and decency and glory?” - Johnny Got His Gun* * * *Yuri Kirisawa grumbled as she stalked through the streets of Kabukicho with her arms folded across her chest, almost pushed by a grinning Selina, with Sunny, Tohya and Ren trailing behind them.‘Why am I doing this again?’ she thought grumpily.It was Friday night, and it just so happened that the five Phantoms do not have any missions scheduled. Tohya had the brilliant idea for all five of them to go down to Starlight’s Hall, as Mizuki usually had Friday Night Specials.And so, before Yuri even knew what was happening, she soon found herself dragged by her friends all the way to Kabukicho where Starlight’s Hall is located. The neon lights of the signboard above the bar were flashing with
An Act of Vengeance Chapter 51
“They died wailing for their mothers. They died howling like little children. They died with their hearts screaming for one more look at their lover’s face. They died sobbing, and every single one of them died thinking the same thing: ‘I want to live. I want to live.’” - Johnny Got His Gun* * * *The trees flashed past as Tohya drove at full speed, going as fast as the car would go, stepping down onto the accelerator of the red sports convertible, with Yuri in the front passenger seat right next to him, looking through a map of the Kanagawa prefecture of Japan.It was nightfall, and he had been driving for hours to get to the Kanagawa prefecture which is where Ren was supposed to have been.Riou had filled both of them in on what he had known so far about Ren’s sudden disappearance. When he hadn’t returned from his mission after a week, Riou had sen
An Act of Vengeance Chapter 52
And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth. - Isaiah 53:9* * * *The sound of the clock ticking was the only sound that could be heard in Yuri’s bedroom as she sat on her bed, tracing the photo of her uncle, her mother, and a younger version of herself. Yuri’s mind was rather fuzzy when it came to her own childhood memories.And from what she could make out of the photo, it seemed to be taken at a park of some sort. Her uncle had her in his arms, and her mother had one hand on her uncle’s arm. The only thing that Yuri remembered of this photo is that the stranger who had helped to take this photo had mistaken her uncle as her father.Well, he wasn’t exactly wrong as her uncle is the only father figure in her life.Yuri sighed as she focu
An Act of Vengeance Chapter 53
O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, and am not silent. Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One, you are the praise of Israel. In you our fathers put their trust, they trusted and you delivered them. They cried to you and were saved, in you they trusted and were not disappointed. - Psalm 22:2 * * * * The skies were dark and gloomy that early Thursday morning when Yuri Kirisawa made her way into the Aoyama cemetery at the break of dawn, wearing her coat. The gloomy weather that Thursday morning only added to her already sombre mood as she entered the silent cemetery. The Aoyama cemetery was deserted, and even the caretaker of the cemetery wasn’t around. The dried leaves crackled beneath Yuri’s feet as she walked over them, taking a path that she could probably walk with both her eyes closed. And at the furthest point of the cemetery, Yuri stopped before a fairly
An Act of Vengeance Chapter 54
We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. - Roman 6:4 * * * * Yuri sat up in bed on an early Saturday morning, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, having been woken by the sunlight streaming onto her face that morning. Something compelled her to look at her bedside table and her gaze fell onto the calendar that sat next to the photo frame on her table, next to her alarm clock. Yuri spotted the red circle around October twenty-fourth. Her face fell slightly when she remembered what that day was. ‘That’s right,’ thought Yuri to herself, glancing at the photo frame, focusing on the image of her mother as she did so. ‘Today is kaa-san’s birthday.’ * * * * The streets of Kabukicho in Shinjuku w
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