Memories That Shouldn't Be Ishinge's breath was still.
His chest was heaving with breath. His head felt like it was carrying a heavy weight.
His mind was strong.
But... did those things he saw really happen?
One of his pendants was wrapped around him. It felt heavier than it had ever been.
Rin was next to him. She was watching him intently.
"You're remembering a forgotten memory again, aren't you?"
Ishin The pain in his fists was there, the fragments of memories resurfaced—
Him.
But... not him.
---
A reflection to be included
The other ishin stood still, his arms folded across his chest.
Same height. Same face.
But his eyes - glowing red.
His black hair was messy, his uniform was slightly unbuttoned.
And on his lips-
A smile.
"I've been waiting for this moment, ishin ukaski ."
Ishin took a slow step back.
"What... this moment?"
His mind told him to run, to escape from here.
He was ready to accept what he was seeing.
But somewhere-
his mind told him that this was true.
"Who are you.. what do you want?!"
The other ishin tilted his head slightly, his red eyes flashing.
"Who am I? Don't you understand?"
He also spread his product a little.
"I am the you who you didn't accept yourself."
---
A truth he didn't want to hear
Ishin's body stiffened.
"No... really, you could be me ."
The other ishin laughed.
"Then why do I know about you and your past?
Your fear.
Your anger.
The truth you don't want to accept."
Ishin gritted his teeth.
This... this isn't real, this is just another dream.
But-
Why did his heart feel like it was already beating as if it knew the truth?
---
Memories that don't exist
Ishin felt pain piercing through his skull like a needle.
Images he saw. Voices. Here were traces of a past he shouldn't remember.
A blade gleaming in the moonlight.
The bodies of his dead parents lying on the ground.
Beside them - a shadowy figure holding a strange, glowing weapon.
His own appearance, moaning in pain.
Ishin fell to his knees.
"That's it..stop now!"
His mind was spinning.
Then-
Another Ishin crouched down next to him.
Snarling.
"You saw it, didn't you? You were there, didn't you?"
Ishin gasped.
No.
No.
This isn't true.
It has to be.
---
The question that changes everything
The room spun.
Ishin's vision blurred.
He could hear his breathing clearly.
Then-
Rin's voice added to the confusion.
"You remember that night, right?"
Ishin's products were pressed to the ground.
His body began to tremble.
Everything he had believed in his life, everything he had thought...
was a lie.
His parents had not died in an accident.
They had been there in front of him.
And he had seen a lot.
His voice was hoarse, filled with stammering pain.
"Who... did what?"
The other ishin began to nibble at his ear.
His voice was barely more than a whisper.
"Do you really want to know about him?"
---