Dylan's breath caught in his throat hearing that word.
"Prey...?"
The Watcher let out an audible smirk.
A golden needle-like object appeared next to him.
When Dylan saw The Watcher aim it at him, he ran. He didn't even glance at The Watcher once.
Dylan sprinted around The Watcher as fast as he could. Hoping he wouldn't get hit.
The needle shot out in the blink of an eye.
Dylan's chest tightened. He didn't want to die here. Not now, at least.
And then—
The needle missed.
A sigh of relief escaped his lips as he ran.
Dylan jumped over the fence and escaped onto the street.
It was dark, and only a few lights allowed him to see.
Now, where to run? To his left or right? The alleyways only led to blocked-off walls, so there was no point in running to those, and his physical abilities weren't nearly good enough to jump on the rooftops.
But the decision was made for him as The Watcher walked out of the open fence on his left, making Dylan run to his right.
Meanwhile, Kaminari lay on his bed. He was in a half-asleep state, going back and forth between thoughts.
He stared at the freshly painted white walls. He hadn't had time to decorate it as he had wanted for a long time now.
The man who was killed on the streets haunted his mind.
Why would someone do that? Was it revenge, something Kaminari sought as well? Or was it just a passerby getting killed?
There could've been hundreds of reasons to kill someone, but were any of those justifiable?
'Of course they were.' Kaminari told himself.
Someone like The Watcher deserves to die. Killers deserve to get killed the same way.
It was a constant battle between what was justifiable and what wasn't, almost like he tried to convince himself that killing The Watcher was justice.
But as he started to dream of scenarios in his head, he felt shivers run through his entire body.
He was here. The Watcher was nearby.
'But why?' Kaminari almost whispered, but only his mouth moved.
Kaminari jumped up from the bed, his feet banging onto the wooden floorboards.
He took a glance at the door, but his eyes quickly locked onto the creaking window, which he left open.
He jumped out, the electricity from his body reflecting off of wet leaves on the trees and windows of houses all around.
"Dylan!" He yelled.
The echo reached Dylan, and he stopped running. Sweat slid across his forehead as he turned his head around.
'Kaminari...' He said, thinking he had been captured by the glowing man.
But The Watcher kept walking, ignoring the screams of Kaminari. He walked like he didn't recognise whose voice that was.
A similar golden needle, which he used to try to kill Dylan, appeared in The Watcher's right hand.
"Isn't death an awful thing?" The Watcher spoke.
Dylan wanted to run, but his feet refused to move. He felt stuck in that moment, both physically and mentally. All he felt on his cheeks were drops of tears running down.
It was like his body knew the end was here.
Kaminari ran down the road where they stood, each step feeling further and further from them.
"Stop! The Watcher, stop this... Please!"
The Watcher reached close enough to run his needle across Dylan's shoulder, all the way to his heart.
The Watcher's eyes didn't glance over at Kaminari or Dylan's heart. He instead stared right into Dylan's eyes.
"Death is inevitable. Isn't it, Dylan? Some of us get to die happily, feeling accomplished... But not everyone is so fortunate."
His eyes slowly made their way to where the noodle was placed.
"Sometimes, fate has different plans for us, and we die earlier than expected. Without warning, life can take away our loved ones, or even ourselves. That's the cruelty of this reality, and by your death, we as humankind will live a happier life, maybe not now or in this current life... But it will happen."
Dylan's heart beat as loudly and strongly as it could. He didn't hear the words of The Watcher as his focus went onto Kaminari.
'I'm sorry...'
And with no hesitation, The Watcher pierced through Dylan's chest.
Blood flew out of Dylan onto The Watcher.
The needle disappeared as The Watcher wiped blood off his face.
He turned around and faced Kaminari directly, which was the first time he looked at Kaminari.
"Perhaps you really are cursed by fate. Seeing your loved ones be victims of this world."
Kaminari's chest tightened, and his breath hitched.
"Shut up! You did this... You were the one who killed them, not this world!"
What followed was silence. Wind blew around the dirt on the ground and leaves that had fallen from trees.
"Goodbye, cursed child. Hopefully, we'll never have to meet again." The Watcher said, his voice colder than before.
Kaminari felt like The Watcher was about to escape, so he charged up as much electricity onto his palm as he could.
"Don't run! I've trained all these years just to kill you...! Don't you dare to run!"
The Watcher didn't react, not even a blink.
"Rest."
Kaminari lunged into the air and directed his attack to where The Watcher stood.
An explosion shook the buildings and woke up everyone within the area.
"What's going on here?!" One of the people stepped into the street.
But his attitude changed as his eyes dropped to the wounded body before Kaminari.
A few stutters came out of the man's mouth, but nothing Kaminari could understand.
"It was The Watcher..." Kaminari quietly said, his voice and mind broken.
"The who? You expect me to buy some cheap lie like that?"
The man started stepping toward Kaminari, the murderer, whose focus wasn't on him.
"I'll show you what crooks like you deserve!" The man raised his fist.
But as a gust of wind blew the man's wig over the back of his head, a figure appeared.
He held the man's hand with a strong grip.
"He's telling the truth. There's an actual killer, a grown man going around. You should already be informed about it." His voice was deep with slight frustration hidden behind it.
A crowd gathered around.
The deep-voiced man pulled his hood over his head even more as he let go of the person who accused Kaminari.
"I-it's you..." One of the bystanders commented.
A familiar person, Kazuhiko, picked up Kaminari and held him in his arms.
"It's alright, Kaminari. Slow your breathing."
Kaminari quickly lost consciousness, and the man gave a slight nod to Kazuhiko as he jumped onto the rooftops and eventually disappeared.
That night changed Kaminari. The Watcher became even more of an enemy worth training to kill for.
Two years had passed since that day.
The first year was rough for him, but as more time passed, Kaminari distracted himself with all sorts of things.
Rapidly talking, saying something without thinking twice, listening to loud music, and befriending multiple people helped him distract his mind. It helped a lot, and Dylan became a past he slowly started to forget about.
And by the third year, a familiar feeling person walked into the classroom.
Kaminari sat on top of Kazuhiko's desk as he fooled around.
Isabella was disappointed as always, and Deia let out a couple of chuckles at the stupidity.
But the class went silent, along with Kaminari.
Yamikuro Asaki stepped into the room.
Time froze for a second for Kaminari. An image of Dylan replaced the new student.
'Who is he?'
Kaminari shook his head to clear his mind and jumped down from the desk.
And from that day onward, a friendship, one that both of them always wished for, began.