Chapter 64

It seems the TS cheat original protagonist ended up doing the perfect heroine move

Kaitzul’s fragment.

The entity that was supposed to have died on that day eight years ago.

His benefactor, Raphael, who was a teacher, a mother, and even an older sister to Kazaoka Tsubasa, exchanged her life in order to take down that enemy.

And now, that very enemy had appeared before Tsubasa, having been reborn due the special characteristics of the Abyss. Although the time span was incredibly short, the once-vanquished longtime enemy had returned to the present world, even more powerful than before.

Tsubasa could never forget that appearance.

That appearance with six wings, imitating the form of the angel Raphael.

Immediately after the town of Heit was engulfed by a dark fog, the moment the jet-black fallen angel appeared alongside a large number of the Abyss, Tsubasa lost control of himself and leapt in.

──This thing… this thing killed Raphael-nee-san!

Through the arrangement of the Archangel of Understanding Binah, Tsubasa had come into contact with the Wisdom of Kabbalah, allowing him to recover his sealed childhood memories.

Meeting her.

Studying under her.

Being saved by her.

Laughing with her.

…Parting with her by death.

And what struck Tsubasa’s heart as he remembered everything was a sense of helplessness the he could no longer do anything about the past that had already passed.

So Tsubasa no longer cared about anything.

Perhaps it was because he had lost his most precious memories. So far, at the bottom of his heart, Tsubasa had lived with a sense of emptiness that nothing could truly fill, no matter what he did.

Helping others through the Savers and detective work was because he wanted to fill his own heart with something and above all, a means to save it. The same could be said for casually flirting with women he liked.

However, all of it had been completely misguided.

The woman who had been the first to affirm him who had nothing—Raphael.

There was no replacement for her.

During the time she had sealed his memories, perhaps he had been unconsciously chasing her phantom.

The reason he had never once felt that something is worth the effort in his life was likely because he already knew that the one he was seeking no longer existed anywhere.

He was so empty──his heart plunged into nothingness.

A place for him to return to did not exist.

Unlike his Savers comrades, Tsubasa’s heart could not be stirred to the point of dedicating himself to saving the world.

Unlike his Savers comrades, Tsubasa did not have the emotion in his heart that propelled him to the point of saving the world.

And besides... he thought if he were to die in this world, he might be able to see Raphael again.

When angels die, their lives are returned to this world’s World Tree, “Sefira.” That woman, too, is now in this world.

He thought that if he were to die in a place like this, perhaps this time... they could stay together forever.

That was what Kazaoka Tsubasa wanted to do more than anything else right now.

I see, I just… wanted to stay with her forever──Only after thinking that far did Tsubasa understand his true intentions.

Due to the nature of his work, Tsubasa had witnessed countless people lose of their families in the past. Each time, he became determined to expose the culprits, pursuing and capturing them with his own hands.

However, even when the cases were solved, the families of the victims could never truly be saved in the truest sense. Watching those who resolved to continue living despite the emptiness they hold, Tsubasa deeply respected them, thinking, "They're amazing."

Now, that respect for them had only grown stronger.

He couldn’t live looking forward like they did.

For him, losing something meant the end.

And so, he couldn't see anyone anymore.

That’s what it should have been… but.

Raising the pistol in his right hand, Tsubasa pulled the trigger repeatedly.

Two bullets fired from the muzzle blew off the enemy's right arm and left leg.

Kazaoka Tsubasa's supernatural ability was "Gale." By freely controlling the wind, not only can he thrust at his enemies with the wind itself, but also to cloak himself in storms or imbue it to matter as he pleases.

The weapon he wields is literally an air gun. From its muzzle, gale bullets were fired, pulverizing enemies with overwhelming speed and destructive power. The name of his technique is "Wind Revolver."

Tsubasa, who had already activated “Fairy Burst” and was now enveloped in a green vortex, had a copious amount of blood discharging from his forehead, but otherwise, he was in perfectly good health.

In contrast, jet black fallen angel Abyss with a feminine form was already at death’s door.

This fierce battle, which had lasted for about thirty minutes, was now at checkmate.

“HAah… haAh…!”

The enemy, now reduced to only a right leg, lost its balance and barely managed to get up with one knee.

Looking at the enemy imitating the shape of his mentor, Raphael, there was no way Tsubasa could feel nothing. His heart boiled over with intense hatred.

Behind him, the battered En and Chouta seemed to be holding their breath as they watched, so perhaps he was not composed at the moment.

He could see the fallen angel-type Abyss, with its misshapen mono-eye exposed from its head, glaring at him reproachfully. Although they don’t bear the slightest resemblance, for just a moment, Tsubasa caught a vision of Raphael’s figure behind it.

『Enough… that’s enough, Tsubasa…』

“—!”

At the moment he heard the auditory hallucination, Tsubasa opened his eyes wide and pulled the final trigger.

Without deviating in his aim, he fired a gale bullet that pierced through the enemy’s head, finishing the enemy in one blow, vanquishing it completely.

At that time, he couldn’t do anything.

But now, having grown stronger as supernatural ability user, Tsubasa had avenged his older sister with his own hands.

The Abyss, buried by a supernatural ability user, would never resurrect again.

With this, he was able to dispel, if only a little, his sister’s regret…

"Ahh…"

"Tsubasa!"

"Tsubasa?!"

The Fairy Burst state was released, and Tsubasa’s body swayed and collapse. Akatsuki En and Rikidou Chouta’s panicked voices rang out.

However, just as he was about to fall, he was caught at the very last moment.

What supported his body that lost its willpower and strength to stand, was something soft and reassuring sensation.

“It’s over, Tsubasa…”

She had appeared, as usual, through teleportation and caught the falling Tsubasa.

If only they had left him alone… En and Chouta surrounding him, and this angel, too, are all so good-natured, he gave a wry smile with an exhausted look on his face

Ahh──this place is so comfortable…

The gentle arms that embraced his wounded body made him feel as though his heart was melting away.

Being kind-hearted, they still hadn’t given up on him.

Perhaps it was because they had been comrades, helping one another until now, even if it’s just the natural course of events.

If that's the case, then I can't take their hands... Tsubasa thought.

Under a sunset sky, which has been completely cleared of the fog, in a corner of a pile of rubble where marks of the gruesome battle were spread out, Tsubasa decided that this was the perfect opportunity to tell everything to them who rushed over to him.

About his past.

And the reason why Kazaoka Tsubasa had been fighting as a member of the Savers until now.

“... I see… So you also had that kind of past…”

With his exhausted body supported by T.P. Eight Olishua, Tsubasa told them everything.

About the angel Raphael, whom he had met as a child.

About the Abyss that had also come to Earth.

About the fragment of the Qlippoth of the abyss, “Kaitzul,” that they fought earlier and Raphael simultaneously striking one another, separating Tsubasa and Raphael by death.

About her sealing those memories until he came to this world, and that he been living with a sense of emptiness all this time.

Now that he had reached the truth, it all no longer mattered──he revealed it all. That he was about to die in her homeland, in this world.

Those were his thoughts, without a single lie or falsehood.

"...The man you thought was your comrade is this kind of guy. Selfish, endlessly clinging to a woman he lost... a pathetic, weak man."

Having said what he wanted, his heart felt slightly better, likely because he had resigned himself and given in to despair.

He no longer had tears to shed, and a faint smile even crossed Tsubasa's face.

Of course, it was a scoff at none other than himself.

"I’m not like you guys. I have no reason to fight... I don’t even have the will to protect anyone or a future I want to grasp... I’m just an empty human with nothing inside."

He no longer understood what he had been fighting for or how he had been living up to this point.

Even though his supernatural ability had grown stronger, nothing had changed since the time he was powerless.

Tsubasa gazed at the faces of his former comrades with a vacant stare and mocked himself.

"It’s laughable, isn’t it? I’ve been chasing the phantom of a sister I couldn’t even remember until now... self-importantly playing a hero. Savior? How presumptuous of me to say that."

“Tsubasa…”

The one here is not a Savior with a heart of light like them. Only a clown, who has danced meaninglessly in pursuit of an unfulfillable wish, unworthy even of pity.

To Tsubasa, the sight of the En and the others was too dazzling. It highlighted his own shallowness, and he felt he could no longer fight alongside them.

They have a future. A future he never got a hold of.

So Tsubasa would be happy if they would just leave him alone.

Leave this ungrateful thing that failed to die here…

“En, Chouta… You have to protect what’s important to you. Don’t end up…”

Don’t end up like me──he was about to say, but stopped himself.

He couldn’t help but stop,

Because of the hands of a black-haired girl who embraced him, as if to physically block him from saying more.

“You can’t.”

The girl, holding him tightly with her arms around his back, spoke into Tsubasa’s ear.

It wasn’t her usual whispering voice.

T. P. Eight Olishua struck with a strong admonishing—scolding, even—feeling.

“You can’t do that, Tsubasa. That won’t do… She wouldn’t be able to rest in peace.”

“Not able to rest in peace…?”

“Do you know why Raphael sealed your memories? Isn’t it because she wanted you to live a straightforward life?”

“...!”

“Please… stop this. It’s pitiful. To her… and to you.”

“...You…”

As Tsubasa tried to push her away, Eight held him tighter and began to speak.

In that moment, his body trembled. She had struck the part of his heart that he didn't want to be touched the most.

And he could feel her arms shaking, too.

Somehow, it felt… sad.

But… even so, Tsubasa──

“What would you know…? I had nothing… For me, that person was my everything in life. That was, that person was… Raphael-nee-san was…!”

The man named Kazaoka Tsubasa had lived his life with his feelings sealed away by none other than the one person to whom he had wanted to dedicate everything.

He had already lost his purpose and meaning in life and found no value in himself.

So, it's fine now──But just as he tried to reject her, his gaze met Eight's green eyes head-on.

His heart leapt involuntarily. It felt as though it was being held tightly.

『You can’t, Tsubasa. You mustn’t do that.』

“...!”

Once again, he was at a loss for words.

This was because Eight's eyes, reflecting Tsubasa's image, looked similar.

When he was a child, when he made mistakes in using his supernatural ability, Raphael’s eyes.

Grabbing onto his shoulders, Eight spoke without even allowing him to blink.

“I don’t understand… the feelings of those left behind. But I do understand the wishes of those who leave. Because I, too…”

…left the ones who were important to me.

Saying that, this time, she tenderly grasped both of Tsubasa’s hands.

Staring fixedly at Tsubasa, whose eyes had widened in surprise, it was as if Eight saw a figure of someone who isn’t here overlap with his, and she spoke with an apologetic expression.

"To you, Raphael's parting gift might have a curse. But even so, she didn’t want her existence to bind you… Because to her, you were the most important thing. Even if she was forgotten forever, that was fine with her."

“No… I…”

"Remember, Tsubasa. The words she left for you at the end."

“──!”

He knew.

The meaning of her actions, since that time.

He had realized her wish, that the empty man named Kazaoka Tsubasa would truly grow, without being forever dragged down by her death.

But he didn’t think he had it, the value she considered so precious. Living like this, he felt nothing but guilt. He wished he could just disappear… Now, just being alive like this, he was single-mindedly feeling guilty, and just wanted to disappear.

I couldn’t to protect anything… I couldn’t to protect anything, and I can’t forgive myself──that’s what he thought.

But she…

Because she was thinking of Kazaoka Tsubasa, who had a strong-denial and was always nervous, she left these final words,

『Tsubasa, I affirm you. Even if others deny you, I love you. Just like me, one day, you… will meet someone who truly understands you.』

I. .!

"You have to live for the future. I won’t allow you to run away."

『You must live for the future, Tsubasa.』

Eight's and Raphael's words overlapped.

At that moment, a single drop fell from Tsubasa’s eyes.

It was a tear that hadn’t been shed once since that day eight years ago.

Walking up to him, placing his hand on Tsubasa’s left shoulder, Rikidou Chouta spoke,

"That’s right, Tsubasa. I haven’t paid back any of my debts yet. …You’ve saved us time after time. No matter how worthless you might think you are, to me, you’re just one of the walls I want to overcome. I won’t forgive you if you quit while you’re ahead when we haven’t even settled the score."

Next, placing his hand on Tsubasa’s right shoulder, Akatsuki En declared,

"If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have been able to achieve a single one of my wishes. I would’ve been taken down by PSYence. You were always the one who admonished me when I lost control and took my anger out on others. So you’re not empty. To us, you’re an irreplaceable… precious──comrade."

"…Is it really okay? Someone like me… one who couldn’t even protect their most important person, someone like me…"

"Even so, you’ve got to face forward and live you life. Toward the future. Isn’t that right, Kazaoka Tsubasa?"

"…Toward the future… huh. …Yeah… you’re right… it’s as you all say…"

With the warmth of his comrades’ hands, he felt his heart geting filled, just a little.

In that moment, he heard a voice. The voice of his dearest someone who had been with him until eight years ago──Raphael.

『So I bless your future… eternally.』

A natural smile appeared on Tsubasa’s face.

I see… I…

“I… will live…”

In this world without you.

Among these comrades.

In the world you entrusted to me.

"I will become a gust of wind... just like you blowing across the world..."

And so, the boy’s time began to move once again.

The guilt and deep sadness continue to remain. But even so, I still want to look for what I can do──perhaps that’s what he thought.

Or maybe…

"…Nee-san…"

It wasn’t him.

Hearing the girl’s softly murmured words, Tsubasa closed his eyes and exhaled softly.

Nee-san, huh… Could it be, you too…

Perhaps his super hero play is still ongoing… For just a brief moment, she showed a lonely expression within her chest, and for some reason, Tsubasa felt couldn’t leave her as is.

I don’t want anyone to feel sadness. Tsubasa realized that this emotion was also his own.

(author:

Cause of Victory: Boobs)

Next