[h2]Sasaki Kirima - Aeon of Osiris[/h2] "Still nothing, huh?" The giant grasped the skinhead by his hair and forcefully yanked upwards, pulling with the terrorist's head in order to stare deeply into his battered face. Sasaki's eyes were saturated with nothing but disdain for the individual before him. He'd already lost most of his teeth, his fingers, and his toes without budging from his stance. He'd screamed, of course. in fact, he'd screamed plenty when the skin of his back was being slowly excoriated by the dulled edge of Sasaki's blade. But screams wouldn't save his friends. Screams wouldn't rescue Kotori or Kei or Aria or Bang or anyone else from suffering the same fate as [i]them[/i]. He slammed the skinhead's face back into the ground. It really pissed him off. As the sounds of combat got audibly louder, Sasaki got up from his crouching position and placed his hand around the hilt of the katana embedded in the clown's forearm. "Stop wasting my time," he said simply, twisting the blade roughly, tearing muscle and inciting audible pain. It still wasn't the sound he needed, damn it. Without rotating it back into position, Sasaki snapped the folded steel in twain to form a rough-hewn dagger of sorts. He crouched back down, lifted the anarchist's head, and promply inserted the blade into the target's eyelid, slicing through the cornea and retina with disturbing ease. Once more, the oni could hear labored breaths and a pained din. It was nothing new. [i]'There's no way this guy'll live through this,'[/i] he thought with distaste as he slowly retracted the blade, [i]'Even so, if he dies I still have that Akurans whore.'[/i] Twirling the blade in his hand and turning it on the other orb, Sasaki was about to prepare the second round when a pained rasp caused him to pause: [i]"Haha...ha..."[/i] "What's so funny?" Sasaki asked, a small scowl forming on his lips as he wrenched the skinhead towards him. To him, this was no time for jokes. For all intents and purposes, this clown was a dead man walking and the giant needed to know what he knew. Fast. After a short period of silence, the clown finally spoke up once again, a rictus of satisfaction and derangement on his mutilated face. [i]"Oh nothing...hah...I was just thinking... thinking about how... we're not all that different, you and I..."[/i] Something snapped in Sasaki upon hearing those words. His grip tightened on the clown's head. His breathing was ragged, anger seeping through his breaths as his face morphed into an uncharacteristic visage of pure rage. "You piece! Of fucking! Shit!" he roared, eyes manic as he kept slamming the speaker's head into the floor over and over again, with increasing rapidity. They weren't the same. They couldn't be the same. He did this because he cared. That's right. He did this [i]because he cared[/i]... He did this because he cared... Because he cared. [i]Because he cared.... BecausehecaredbecausehecaredbecausehecaredbecausehecaredbecausehecaredbecausehecaredbecausehecaredbecausehecaredbecausehecaredbecausehecaredbecausehecaredbecausehecaredbecausehecaredbecausehecaredbecausehecaredbecausehecaredbecausehecaredbecausehecaredbecausehecaredbecausehecaredbecauseHECAREDBECAUSEHECAREDBECAUSEHECARED[b]BECAUSEHECAREDBECAUSEHECAREDBECAUSE[/b][b]HECAREDBECAUSEHECAREDBECAUSEHECARED[/b][/i] He slammed and slammed and slammed. He slammed until the skull beneath his hands became nothing but dust, until brain matter slipped between his fingers and littered the room. He didn't notice the Akurans girl slip away. He didn't notice the door to the storage room open. He didn't notice his friend enter and see his relapse into madness. "[color=6ecff6]...Kirima-senpai... What happened here?![/color]" In that single moment, the storageroom was plunged into an unsettling quiet. It was like, for just the briefest of moments, everything was at peace. The battle raging outside no longer mattered. What only mattered was this scene, this very moment. Sasaki's massive form shifted ever slightly. Head slowly turning to face the young magician. The hushed dribbling of blood was deafening. [i]Drip. Drip. Drip[/i]. His face was blank, entirely devoid of emotion. His dead eyes stared right at Kei. No, that was incorrect. He stared right [i]through[/i] Kei, like the giant didn't notice he was there, like his vacant eyes were just staring into a vast abyss of nothingness. [i]Drip drip drip[/i]. The bloody chorus chimed on, counting down the soundless seconds. "[color=6ecff6]What did you do!?[/color]" ... ... ... ... ... ... Terror. It was always terror. Even among those who'd respected him for his strength, those who had been the ones to seek [i]him[/i] out, there was always that underlying fear pervading their actions. As far as abilities went, his was not that impressive. It was not deadly or powerful, nor was it useful or versatile. Magic, ESP, mortal skills - they were all far more exceptional, far more threatening than his own. Even so, he was feared. He was feared more than espers who possessed power rivaling military squadrons, more than magicians who could forsake even their own humanity for greater power. Why should he have been surprised that Kei would be the same? He slowly rose to his feet, arms hanging limply at his sides, and his head facing down. His grip tightened around the malformed dagger in his right hand. It wouldn't be wrong to compare his bearing to that of a feral beast. He turned his head back to look Kei. Even as corpses lined the room, even as blood stained his clothes and splattered his glasses, even as his body was shot and bruised, his eyes were like they were before they were thrust into a fight for their lives. Looking back at Kei was Sasaki Kirima, ever gentle. "Don't worry, Kei-kun," he said, closing his eyes and smiling softly at the young boy, "Everything will be fine soon." Sasaki burst forward, arms bared like the fangs of a predator pouncing on his prey.