Chapter 54 - It's not over yet.

Jihai didn't notice he had stopped hearing the screams coming from his mother around him or feeling the touch Mr. Sakai gave him on the shoulder to guide him out of the room, his skin reacting to the change of temperature in the environment.

He felt numb, his heart too cold to allow any incoming emotions he should have felt. He felt nothing, observing the world like a stranger who had no ties with it.

Hisako whose face rarely portrayed any emotions looked at the boy who was walking on the cold tiles without any shoes with pity in her eyes. Ryōsei had been in the room since the confession and his eyes were a bit teary, making him like the victim instead.

Suddenly, he stopped but did not turn to face them. His lonely back stood straight along with his ruffled black hair that swayed with the cold night breeze as he said. "I am leaving. Don't follow me."

Ryōsei opened his lips to object but was stopped by his master. They watched him leave the room, his footsteps still slow and heavy due to his injuries. Ryōsei faced the haggard woman who was trembling uncontrollably. "What should we do with her?"

"Lock her in the ancestral hall. Put her in the cadmium cage." Sumiyoshi did not look at her anymore but instead focused his attention on a little blue pouch, twirling it with his fingers.

Hisako approached him carefully, standing three feet away from him. "Master, its time to sleep."

He nodded. "Okay."

It took Jihai precisely forty minutes to find his way out of the large mansion and his legs ached. Nevertheless, he refused to stop, pushing one feet in front of the other until he realised he didn't know where to go next. He saw several cars parked in front of him but he didn't have the car keys so he picked the fruit knife he acquired and inserted it into the car keyhole and twisted it.

When he had successfully opened the car door, he saw a man running towards him holding a bunch of keys. The man stopped, catching his breath and gave him the keys.

"Take this. To enter the city, drive straight until you reach the road filled with pine trees. From there, turn left and drive straight again. When you meet a junction that has a signpost about a cemetery, curve to the road that has an angle less than 60°. If you successfully come out of that road, you will arrive in the city. Be careful."

Ryōsei instructed.

"Thank you." Jihai drove out of the compound, leaving the worried man behind. He followed all the instructions, ignoring the eerie surroundings that would have looked fascinating if the sun had risen up. He drove in the city in high speed until he reached a familiar estate. Finally, he parked outside a large mansion.

He stumbled out of the car but quickly held the car door to stabilize himself. He gazed at the bright decorations and loud voices with low piano music in the background in the compound that indicated that there was a party going on.

From outside the compound, he still see that the main party seemed to be held on the second floor with the help of the opened curtains. Once in a while, people would come near the window to have a private conversation and he stayed outside gazing at them. He didn't know why he was he was there but he just stayed leaning against the car as he felt himself lose his strength.

Just when he was about to leave, he saw a couple come near the window, hand in hand. He recognized the woman dressed in a fuchsia pink gown with a top knot bun who was holding a glass of champagne looking around with an indifferent expression.

The man beside her spoke to her, words that he couldn't hear but he saw her smile to the man's words. They both turned their backs to the window, communicating with each other in the jovial atmosphere. Finally, they faced the window with the side of their bodies visible as the man's fingers softly touched the tendrils of her hair that fell on the side of her face.

Slowly, his hand left her hair as he wrapped it around her neck then drew her closer to him, their lips intertwining in a kiss. The woman gripped his edge of his suit, mȯȧning into the kiss. Her eyelids fluttered, opening to look outside the window in a blur. Her eyes widened and suddenly she pushed him away.

He cried.

He just wanted to see her, to be the one comforted because it was too tiring being the strong one. He loved her, loved her too much he felt that this ache in his ċhėst will kill him.

He had no one.

No one at all.

He was staying in a world that looked down on him, decieved him and hated him so much they took all the people he loved the most. He was tired of being the lovesick fool!

He stayed in the car, resting his head on the steering wheel until he heard his door opened making him raise his head. Sumiyoshi helped him get out of the car, leaning him against it as he took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket.

"Want one?" He offered it to Jihai. The boy curiously looked at the pack of cigarettes, then picked one of the pack holding it between his forefinger and middle finger.

When he brought it to his lips, Sumiyoshi lit the cigarette with a lighter proceeding to light his own when he heard the boy coughing. He chuckled softly. "You don't have to rush it. Here, draw it in slowly and let it linger in your throat. There, there, you can exhale it out now but slowly. Yes, like that. You are doing great." He demonstrated patiently, guiding him.

After they had smoked a few puffs, Jihai decided that the bright city lights were nothing compared to the dazzling lights of the stars hanging in the sky. He turned and asked. " What was his name?"

Sumiyoshi didn't look flustered at the question, letting a ring of smoke out of his lips before he said. "Harumitsu." He threw the light blue pouch to him. "It belonged to him, actually its a big part of him."

"A part of him?" Realising that Sumiyoshi wasn't going to reply, he opened the pouch, his face turning into a frown. Only then, did Sumiyoshi say "It was made from hairs collected from every part of his body. I wanted to him to stay with me and this was the only part that could be best preserved for that purpose."

Instead of twisting his face in disgust at the repulsive idea, he bowed his head in deep gratitude. "Thank you."

Sumiyoshi tapped one of his shoulder blades twice before raising him up. "So what do you plan to do?"

"I don't know yet." Jihai knew he should be in UK by now but after all that he experienced, he was lost. He felt he was drifting between reality and fantasy, unable to tell the difference between the truth and lies. He had lost his motivation and purpose to move forward.

Sumiyoshi's face immediately became solemn."Nonsense, it's not over yet, boy. Let me then tell you what is going to happen. According to the reports sent to me, you are supposed to be in the UK working for Colossus and that's where you will be.. Since those people hated to see you as an equal, you are now going to let them enjoy the view of seeing you standing above them as their new king."