Splendid
ほぼ全て英語です。主人公名もキサラギです（笑）。ルパートもキサラギもバイリンガルの設定なので、時々日本語も混じっています。
The main character's name is also Kisaragi lol. Rupert and Kisaragi are both supposed to be bilingual, so I've mixed in some Japanese here and there.
I clanked up the steps. Metallic, cold—fretful, yet tranquil. Each step reverberated, echoing and radiating through the bustling yet strangely quiet urban center.
The wind blew. Perhaps that was the only source of sound. I felt the breeze and gazed around from this artificial vantage point. The sky was a gradient of blue and faint orange. The horizon shimmered. It was calling to me.
For once, I reckoned—the world was beautiful.
The wind continued to blow. I pushed my hair aside, only for it to obscure my view again.
When was the last time I had immersed myself in such a surreal, transcending world…
This place wasn’t reality. It was a utopian fantasy. Too pristine to match the bleakness of the material world.
“Took you a while, no?”
I looked up.
Him.
“Well, good evening,” I retorted.
“I was waiting for you,” plainly he said this, leaning on the handrail.
“Surely,” I concurred, “It’s been two years.”
“Four,” he corrected, “and six months to be precise.” He, too, gazed out to the horizon. “I see your sense of time has remained disarrayed and muddled. You haven’t changed since the last time we met, eh?”
“Oh clearly you speak lies.” I said, jokingly, yet with a glint of somber gravity in my eyes, a spark of our eternal vendetta. I was cautious. Alert, even. Wary? Oh yes, certainly. "I have changed. Greatly––saliently."
I was curious. Almost skeptical, suspecting. “If you don’t mind my asking,” I began. I paused for another gust of wind to scatter my hair and intrude my vision. I cleared my face, then my throat.
He waited. He was deliberate. He had time, there was no need to rush. This could take as long as he desired… his pupils––they hadn’t changed. Those wry, piercing shimmers…
“What brought you here?”
He gazed at me, gravely. His eyes were almost melancholy.
Ever since the incident—neither of us desired to interact ever again. Perhaps I was wrong. Perhaps he wanted to see me. But we were never even meant to discover each other’s existence. And yet we had. Now it was perhaps inevitable. Together, we were destined to destroy the world.
Despite my cool demeanor, I was in shock. Whatever I had sputtered since the moment I saw him was utterly ingenuine. I mean, I barely cared about this hideous world; I despised its whole existence. But––not so much as to destroy it. I would let it be. And the world would let me be. Or at least, so I hoped.
But with this encounter, it shattered. I was sure––another wicked chronology would ensue.
Apprehension swirled within me. The wind blew, churning it further.
Two, massive, world-changing forces––together, on the cold, metallic tower, on a quiet, windy, urban evening. Even the horizon was in unease. It cried with the last of its bloody sunlight tears. The sun helplessly succumbed, slowly but surely.
I gulped, waiting for his response.
“Well,” he leisurely shifted his weight from the railings, and began to step down towards me. “What do you think?”
“I asked a question,” I replied, “And I would appreciate a definitive response.”
“I don’t care what you would appreciate,” he immediately answered, “Did we ever? Did we ever yield to the other’s favor?”
“Oh, no, never.” I narrowed my eyes. “But you do realize––this conflict embroils the whole globe. Therefore I remained disconnected with you for years. Yet you appear before me, breaking that delicate chain woven for the sake of peace.” Another gust, this time stronger than the previous ones. It was almost hypnotizing––there was something mystical to this sea breeze. The waves must be crashing right now.
The harbor––
“What about peace do you even bother? No, what about this world ever mattered to you?” He stepped even closer. He hadn’t changed––yes, he had aged. But not to weaken––to strengthen. But his foundational features were still prominently present, handsomely.
“I wish it doesn’t,” I answered, “But it envelops me. I inhabit it. Therefore, don’t I have to retain its sanity, at least to some extent?”
“Precisely. And that’s why we find a different habitat.”
“None exist; are you mad?”
“We can destroy this world together.”
“That doesn’t let it provide any sort of haven for us.”
“No, and then we recreate a new one.”
“Ludicrous.”
“I’m serious, Kisaragi.”
That name.
“You promised never to call me that.”
“I don’t care.”
“You must care about something.” I was genuinely frustrated. I wasn’t sure whether he was just toying with me, or he had faith in his words–– “See, you don’t have to benefit this world. But that doesn’t necessarily mean you must harm it.”
“No, you’re right; surely it doesn’t.” He mused. He was always careful with his words. “We have no obligation to the world that produced us with no regard for our choice. There’s no need to swear allegiance to it. Therefore we act in our own interests, for our own benefits.
“And if that means harming the world––who minds?”
“Do you not believe in maintaining order?”
“Preserve the madness of this ugly world? Oh hell no.”
“Profanity?”
“Yes, I’m serious.”
I was taken aback.
“That was the preamble to my answer, if you don’t mind lending me your ears.”
“I’m listening.”
“I came here because I wanted to see you.”
I scowled. “I could infer that. There must be another, more fundamental reason.”
“Don’t get ahead of yourself. ほんとせっかちなんだから。。。” He smirked, as I widened my eyes at his switch of tongue. “And to request you to join hands.”
There was silence, save the roaring wind.
He extended his right arm. Long, pale, beguiling, elegant fingers––gelid and menacing.
“狂ってる。”
“You still love your native tongue, eh?”
“It’s the one thing I love about this world. Besides, didn’t you use it first?”
“Amusing.”
I realized darkness was beginning to creep upon us. The horizon had exhausted its tears. It was crying with a faint, dark orange glow below the sable hills.
“Your rhetoric clouded your points,” I remarked, “Would you mind clarifying what exactly you want to accomplish by seeing me here?” I looked around. “It’s getting dark.”
“Yes, it’s indeed getting late.” His shining pupils were two full moons illuminating the twilight veil.
“Why the paraphrase?”
“Because they’re not the same thing. You misspoke.” He lowered his arm.
“Lies.”
“Kisaragi, you fool.” I wasn’t sure if it was a joking gibe or genuine derision. “The sun never sets in this world as long as we prevail.”
“But we don’t. And at the very least, I don’t want to.”
Perhaps something snapped within him. The optic moons darkened––they faded with the arrival of silent shadows.
“About time you stop being so obstinate?” he suggested.
“Again, you haven’t explained anything. You haven’t changed either, have you, with your elaborate, ostentatious, empty diction?”
“Let’s not go ad hominem.”
“Mea culpa.” Nevertheless we were sophisticated. We were, and would always be, cultured, cruel beings.
The wind howled at the moon rising from the east.
“I’m certain you have the general idea,” he asserted, “I’m asking for a yay or nay.”
“Join hands, I recall you said. So you wish for me to hold your hand?” I smiled sarcastically. “I won’t mind.”
I extended my left arm in playful mockery.
To my surprise, he grasped it, then pulled me in. I had no time to resist.
I was met with his breast. I squirmed, only to be suppressed by his other arm.
“You sluggard,” he chuckled, “It’s that lack of exercise that corrodes your reflexes, your athleticism.” He paused. “And your temerity to extend your own arm to someone like me. You continue to entertain me, Kisaragi.”
“I do in fact run ten miles a day, consistently,” I gasped. His grip was tight.
“I run fifteen,” he curtly responded.
“Brilliant for you.” I heard his heartbeat. It was louder than the wind. “But would you mind loosening your embrace?”
“Why so?” he gently murmured.
“You’re choking me.”
“When did I agree to not suffocate you?”
“I assumed you were lawful.”
“Haha,” he chortled. “Well then you assumed wrong.”
“So you wish to murder your accomplice?” I spat, exasperatedly.
He paused, loosened his grasp.
“Thank you…” I began, nonetheless unsuccessful at fully escaping his arms. But at least now I was able to breathe heartily.
“Brilliant. So you agree to be my accomplice?”
I gaped at him in shock, jerking up my head.
“Pardon?”
“You explicitly stated it yourself. I interpret that as an affirmative.”
A shot of panic penetrated me. I strived to keep cool. “That’s preposterous. I stated that in the context of you perceiving me as one. By no means do I wish to be.”
“Excuses, excuses, excuses.” He snickered. “Well, you know, your words barely matter. Because at the end of the day, I will make you agree.”
He deliberately placed his fingers below my chin and pressed it upwards, tilting my head at an angle and securing it there. My neck was in pain.
“Coercion isn’t smiled upon,” I stated quietly.
“I don’t care. I submit to my own desires. And I make others do the same.”
His gaze was enchanting.
The sun had fully set now. The only light sources were the blinking, small white lights installed on the tower’s sides, and the crescent moon. The sky was clear. I shivered, not from the crispness of the night––it would have indeed been chilly, but at the moment I was trapped in a man’s embrace––but from discomfort. I must admit he was warm––nevertheless, his voice was cold.
“Well, what would you do?” I inquired.
I was momentarily met with his lips on mine, pressing me slightly over the fence.
“っ。。。”
I was released after what felt like a century.
“Your flavor hasn’t changed since the last time we kissed,” he mused, smirking.
“Your lips would be fair,” I began, “if we didn’t find ourselves in this vile situation.”
“Oh, no, I’m having a splendid time.” His smile widened. “It’s just you, I wager.”
Perhaps we both felt it––a vague, comfortable waft of the past. When the world was––or no, we believed the world was––beautiful. Neither of us knew why, when the kiss was but romantic––a weapon of seduction.
The present was brutal.
“Vacate et scire, my dear,” he whispered in my ear, once again tightening his arms. “We either cleanse this world together, or I do it alone.
“I’m ruthless when it comes to who I identify as a contaminant. If you refuse to join, I will exterminate you.”
He shuffled slightly, then unsheathed his knife. I knew the moment I heard its metallic echo––he always transported it with him. I saw it many times four years and six months ago. Too many times.
He slid its spine against my neck. It was biting cold, despite the sheath concealing it until moments ago.
“It’s either this or my fangs.”
The wind bellowed louder than ever.
The ocean––
The aroma of his robes enticed me. It brought a pining nostalgia to my feeble, pathetic heart.
“Kisaragi,” he whispered again, “I would appreciate a response within the next thirteen seconds.”
“What if I don’t care and take longer?”
“Your life is at stake, you ignoramus.”
“I know.”
His robe was soft, his body warm. The world was devilishly comfortable.
I was succumbing to the temptation of masculinity. Suddenly I found his arguments to be quite logical.
Oh, what a fool I was––I had been blindly serving this world for four years, overseeing its peace––which never even was present––I resisted my own desire aching for thrill, for excitement, for joy. I denied it, believing it would lure me into my own self-destruction.
But I was already broken. And this world was already broken. Why not rebuild it from the start, with not one, but two, dexterous pairs of hands?
And when was the last time I had perceived such a thrill? I couldn’t help but imagine the first time he kissed me. Ever since the departure––I had been voided, eviscerated of my emotions.
I had missed my archenemy––purely by instinct. And it must have been for him too. We were bound together with an unbreakable thread, transcending reason.
We were never meant to meet. But once we did, we were never meant to separate. Yet we had. And we had both crumbled inside. Deep down, we loved each other––and it wasn’t just because of our common adversary. Again, there was no rationale. Our actions were founded upon the propensity for emotional reasoning.
It wasn’t too late to rectify ourselves, along with this egregious world, which we both so deeply resented.
The knife’s spine pressed harder into my neck.
“Ow…”
“It’s been fifteen seconds.”
“Please remove the knife from my neck.”
“I will, after I confirm your response.”
“Ita vero,” I said, promptly.
The cold blade immediately lifted off.
“Kisaragi, my joy at this moment is ineffable.”
“Surely.”
He finally released me completely, but I continued to cling on. He must have been surprised. He wrapped me within his robes again as we shared another kiss.
“How old did you turn last autumn?” he gently inquired, before transferring his mouth to my neck.
“Sixteen.”
“Lovely.”
“You?”
“Eighteen.”
“Lovely also.”
“Kisaragi, do you mind if I take a bite?”
Those words. How long has it been since the last time I heard them?
Another pleasing pang of pain…
“As you wish, Rupert,” I conceded.
“Splendid.”
The night was, finally, in such a long, long, dreadful time, beautiful.
二人の過去に何が起きたかは、また後ほど書く予定です。
Later gonna write about what happened between these two in the past.
Is it possible to italicize some of the words? I couldn't find a way to format them on this platform...
