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[DILAPIDATED BUILDING - DOUBLE DOORED CLOSET]

The closet was narrow, the room bloodied. Corpses littered the ground, and the moonlight shone brightly.

Nica, who was in my arms, was the only one who exuded warmth as he let out a listless laugh.

Noticing that my arms were wrapped around his back, he hugged me back as though holding me in his arms.

Kate: I’m so glad you’re alright...

Nica: ...Back at you. By the way, what of Ring?

Kate: The residents who had heard the commotion had contacted the authorities, so Ring is handling things over there...

Nica: So he likely went out there to lead them out because you came running back here.

Kate: You could say that.

Nica: Pfft, that’s a no-go there, Spatzi. My little brother’s painfully bad at this sort of thing...gh—

Kate: Are you okay!?

He let out a pained groan, to which I pulled out a handkerchief in a panic and dabbed his bloodstained lips.

(What terrible wounds...and his body must’ve sustained them too, just that I can’t see them...)

His cheeks were swollen, bruises congested, and clothes disheveled.

While I bit my lip at the heartbreaking sight, he rested his chin on my shoulder.

Nica: Ahh...did I get hit too much? I’m feeling dizzy.

His arms around me tightened, and he pulled me in toward him.

Nica: …You can laugh and call me a fool. And it’s okay to blame me too.

I sniffled, holding in the tears on the verge of bursting as I weaved my words.

Kate: I think the things you’ve done are unforgivable.

Kate: But I could never blame you for using what little ways you had to protect Ring.

“Why did you get hit?” I didn’t have to ask that to get an idea.

Kate: Perhaps there may have been better ways than deceiving, playing with others’ feelings, and taking on grudges.

Kate: But I was never there at that time. So I could never blame you for that.

Nica, in his own Nica way, accepted their grudges.

After so much deception, it all came back. And taking that upon himself may have been an attempt at atonement.

Nica: Yeah, like you said, the grudges from playing people came right back.

Nica: But I won’t stop. I can’t stop, no matter what.

I thought Nica was the worst for playing with other people’s feelings.

I said that it would all come back against him.

(But that doesn’t mean I want to see Nica get hurt.)

After all, now that I was before that very scene, it felt so painful and awful, I could hardly bear it.

Nica slowly reached out toward my neck, a pained expression on his face.

Nica: Your neck must hurt...there’s still a mark.

Nica: Well, if I had gotten here earlier, you wouldn’t have gotten hurt.

He gently ran his fingers along the mark on my neck, left from the knife and strangling, and in response a teardrop ran down my cheek.

Kate: Y-you seem...in a much worse shape... *hic*

He let out a wry smile at my tears, falling one after another, as he planted a kiss on the corner of my eye.

Nica: Mm, it’s salty.

Kate: What are you—

Nica licked my tears with the tip of his tongue, and in a panic I turned my face away.

But his hand wrapped around the back of my head, and his forehead touched mine.

Nica: You’re so foolish, so darn naïve...you doofus Kate, you.

Nica: Here you are, crying for someone like me. You really are a good-natured fool.

Both of his hands that gently cupped around my cheeks were warm, but his rings emitted a sharp coolness.

Nica: You should be smiling right about now, you know. I happen to like your smiles a lot, Kate.

Kate: Smiling at a time like this would be more strange than anything...

Nica: Then, just smile for me.

His index fingers dragged the corners of my lips upward.

Seeing my forcibly-made smile while tears flowed down caused him to laugh, a troubled look on his face.

Nica: Haha...you look awful.

Kate: I could say the same to you...

He withdrew his fingers before his lips slowly approached mine.

Kate: Mm—

He pressed a kiss, and while I was surprised, I closed my eyes.

Meanwhile, Nica gave me countless feather-like kisses, stealing my lips.

The feeling of our lips together was hot, and from the gap between I could pick up the smell of iron.

Nica: Don’t run on me now.

His face scrunched up in pain as he murmured, once again placing a hand on my cheek.

But, there was no way I could run.

(Ahh, I see now.)

I thought to myself as I looked at him before me, tears flowing down my cheeks.

[WHITE]

(I like Nica, from the bottom of my heart.)

I thought after being played ragged the love that started from a lie would come to a full stop.

And yet, my mind kept turning back to him all the time, and no matter what I had gone through, I found myself wanting to know what lied in his heart.

Though he appeared capable, he was quite clumsy, and he was a person who smiled like a young boy, always thinking of his younger brother.

He claimed people were playthings, and yet when I got hurt, he would make an awfully pained face.

And, in the midst of the fabricated kindness, I had come to receive his true kindness time and time again.

(Perhaps it’s the fake Nica that had sparked those feelings.)

But the part of him I had fallen in love with, the part of him that continued to draw me in...

—was the Nica who was most true to himself.

[DILAPIDATED BUILDING - DOUBLE DOORED CLOSET]

I softly touched his swollen cheeks, meeting his gaze.

Kate: About yesterday, I’m really sorry for stepping into your past on my own.

Kate: Whether it was as fairytale keeper, or just from one human to another, I just really wanted to know more about you, even if I couldn’t understand.

Kate: I felt bad keeping quiet about it, though, so I had talked to you about it. But I had ended up hurting you as a result.

Kate: So, truly, I am sorry.

Nica: ...It’s not really like it was your fault.

I gave him a small smile after hearing his words.

Kate: Nica, there’s something I’ve come to realize.

Nica: Yeah, what is it?

Kate: I like you. The true you.

His eyes widened.

Kate: Perhaps it had first started from being treated kindly and getting deceived.

Kate: But the one I fell for was the one who would at times laugh like a boy on a whim, the one who would have a distant look in his eyes...

Kate: ...And the one who could just leave someone like me by myself, and yet expressed worry for my wounds. That’s the Nica Schwartz I fell in love with.

Nica’s eyes narrowed, looking at my face as though he had seen something dazzling.

Kate: You can call me annoying and a pain in the neck— I wouldn’t be surprised— but I like you, so I want to get to know you more.

Kate: It’s because I like you...that I want to understand you.

Nica: ...I might be playing with your feelings even now, you know.

Nica: What you claim to be the “true” me might also be fabricated.

Kate: ...You mean even though you went off about how you’d become the world’s happiest man, all while looking anything but happy?

Nica looked exasperated at my words as he leaned his body on mine.

Nica: You...really are sharp on the weirdest things...

His hug was so tight it hurt, and I was surprised at his strength, but...

Nica: ...To become the world’s happiest man, I need more money, more power.

Nica talked as though in delirium.

Nica: Because then, I can bring in the people I care about...

Nica: I can...bring Ring into my happy fate too...so...

Kate: Huh?

At that moment, his body crumpled toward me.

Kate: Nica...?

Nica, who had collapsed on my chest, was unconscious, his complexion pale.

Kate: —Nica!!

t. b. c ⸝⸝

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