Solo Cultivation in The Apocalypse

Onogi gulped down his drink. He had cleaned the broken glass and ordered another for him. Kuzu was sucking his cigarette, completing one in two minutes and moving to the next cigarette.

"We should not have let them go," Kuzu said, pulling another cigarette after sucking the shit out of one. He will definitely have the smoke stick to every corner of his lungs.

Onogi placed his glass, then filled it, both bottles at the same time. "You are saying that thirty minutes after they left."

He sucked it to the half, the ash fell on his lap. "I was stunned. He came to us with his chest wide with confidence, chin held up, and his shoulders straight."

"What do you think I was fucking Akemi in my mind? That bastard invaded my house with two men. TWO. Pointed his fucking wand at me and told me what to do."

Kuzu threw the cigarette, he was pulling another one when Onogi said:

"Go."

Kuzu looked at him, his finger on a cigarette's butt.

"Go right now." He took a sip. "If war is what he fucking wants, a war he will fucking get."

Kuzu pushed the cigarette back into the case. "What do you want me to do?"

"Saiko Brothers, we can not wait for them. Take our men to the hospital. Do whatever the fuck you want, wreak havoc, wage a war, burn the building to ashes."

Kuzu's eyes widened. "You know the circumstances, do not you?"

"Will you do it, though, knowing the circumstances?"

Kuzu got up. "I have a few loose ends to tie. That bastard is still responsible for losing my drops."

Kuzu reached the door. "Hey, Erabu," Onogi said, "is my old man coming back soon?" He gripped the glass tightly.

He paused, his hand trembled, and reached for his forehead. "N-no, sir, not anytime soon."

Onogi released his grip over the glass and sighed. "Go ahead then, burn the building. The Onogi Guild was here."

Kuzu opened the door.

"When the coast is clear," he said, Kuzu stopped, "be sure to give me a call." Onogi raised his glass, lifted it a little, and gulped the alcohol.

Kuzu smiled, he wanted to see Onogi in action for a long time-- since Akemi's incident-- he closed the door behind him. "I will, sir."

Onogi stared at the empty glass and the bottles. He opened the drawer and dumped the two bottles and the glass into it.

Kuzu reached the ground floor. He heard someone talking outside the glass entrance. He walked through the porch, then out of the building.

He found the two entrance guards talking with two other men. He thought Hitori had not left yet, he drew his blades as he walked to them.

"What is going on?" he asked from behind. "Who are they?"

"Kuzu-san." The guards turned and revealed the face of a man standing in front of him. One of the guards walked to him and explained the situation but his mind was mesmerized by the visitor's face.

The person was wearing a suit under a long coat. His eyes were wide with a wide smile on his face, he lifted the corner of his upper lip and said, "At your service, Kuzu Erabu... san." And grinned wider.

"Boy... Oi, boy!" He heard faint noises from outside.

"Hitori-san, Hitori-san, come on, wake up..." he heard a girl calling his name.

"Boy!"

"Hitori-san!"

They both snapped at him. He opened his eyes in panic, he threw his hands from his chin to the table and looked around him furiously.

"What, were you sleeping?" His eyes fell on Kakashi sitting beside him with a toothpick in his mouth.

"Are you alright, Hitori-san?" He felt her soft touch on his trembling hand.

Eya's eyebrows were down as she held a worried expression on her face.

"I-I, I am fine." He rubbed his face and pulled his wrist out of Eya's grasp.

He then reached for his half-finished drink and took a sip. Kakashi and Eya watched him as he placed his drink on the table. "We need to leave," he said, and gulped his drink, "for the hospital."

"That Kamiya boy again?" Kakashi asked. He rolled his eyes and let out a half-sigh.

"No. Kuzu, he will come back. I saw him. He will return to the hospital."

"What do you mean you saw him?"

Hitori glanced at Kakashi. "Iny my head. A gut feeling, you may call it."

"Why do not you understand it?" Kakashi said. "Kamiya is working with Onogi, even if he is not he has got his own reason for killing you."

He saw Akemi's face, she was distressed, worried sick, and scared to death when Hitori grabbed Kamiya by his neck. Her fear grew wider when Kamiya mentioned Kuzu.

"Akemi-san is not. She is not with them."

"You can not be so sure, Hitori-san, she is his sister."

"No, no. With Kuzu and Onogi, it is not business for her, it is a personal matter."

"I am still against it."

"I will stay my guard if we are going to do this."

"No, Eya-nee, we are not."

"Have you paid the bill?" Hitori asked, grabbing his coat. Kakashi frowned. "Let us vote for it. I want to protect Kamiya, he was an amazing partner even if it was an act." Hitori placed his palm on the table. "If he has a personal reason to kill me, I will kill him before he does. In the end, we are mages-- still partners-- birds of the same folk."

Eya glanced at Kakashi. She leaned forward and placed her hand on Hitori's, she smiled. "Come on, Himbo."

"God forbid from things going bad." He placed his hand over Eya's and they teleported. "Do not call me that!" His voice rang in the restaurant left with four other people and the staff.

Hitori knocked on the door. "Kamiya, it is Hitori, let me in, we need to talk."

Kamiya looked at Akemi and nodded. She gulped and pressed the button. The door opened. Hitori dashed through the room and went to a bottle placed on a table.

"Is it water?" he asked, pointing at the bottle.

"It sure is," Kamiya replied. He was sitting beside Akemi with his head held down.

Hitori uncapped the bottle and drank half a liter of the water. Eya and Kakashi entered through the door.

"Sorry to intrude."

"And sorry to disturb you if you were planning something." Kakashi stood at the door.

Hitori banged the bottle on the table and lifted his eyes, his bangs hung over his eyes. "Kuzu is coming, Kamiya," he said, "we need to move to a safe place."

Akemi gulped. Kamiya frowned at him. "How do you know he is coming, are you working with him? Perhaps you are taking us to a meet-up spot to make things easy for Kuzu."

Hitori licked his lower lip. "He will arrive here sooner or later with much more people."

"This is not an amusement park that they will come here for a picnic whenever they want to with their three generations," Akemi said in between.

Hitori ignored her. "We need to leave before he arrives. That means now."

"Why, are not you afraid I might kill you or betray you or something? How come you trust me like that?"

Hitori pursed his lips and nodded. He rubbed his eyebrow and turned to Akemi. "Do you know the brother you love from the bottom of your heart is working for Onogi?"

Akemi hesitated. "B-Brother?" She looked down.

"Your little brother is working for the man who tortured you and him."

"Shut up, Hitori. Jigo is not that sort of a man. He will die but will never work for Onogi. Never."

Hitori shrugged. "There you have it." He glanced at everyone in the room.

He walked to the door leaving everybody confused. They watched him as he opened the door to peek outside and then close it.

"Does anybody know about such a place?" he asked, as he continued walking.

"What the f--- stop." Kakashi grabbed Hitori's shoulder. "What do we have there? Nothing."

"We have that Kamiya is not working for anyone. He may want to kill me for some reasons, but unless that is not---"

Kakashi looked at Akemi. "What do her words prove? Shit."

Hitori stopped and sighed. "If a sister with brother complex says that her brother would never work for someone, believe me, she knows what she is saying."

Akemi's face turned red of a sudden. Kamiya looked around in confusion, Kakashi removed his hand immediately, and Eya directly moved her eyes to Akemi.

"W-What?" Kamiya said.

"You did not know? Yeah, you were so busy planning against me that you failed to notice your sister's---"

"Shut up!" she shouted, "just shut up, Hitori you bastard."

He shrugged again. "Her reaction proves it."

Kamiya turned to Akemi but she lowered her face, almost burying her face into a pillow.

Kakashi frowned. "Whoa, how do you she is telling the truth?"

"I can see it in her eyes," Hitori replied, "she is telling the truth."

He cringed even more.

"Fuck. You do not judge people in such situations by looking into their eyes. What if she is good at telling lies---"

"Kakashi." Eya raised her eyes at him, gesturing for him to shut his trap.

"Do you have your wand, Kamiya?" Hitori asked. He, still confused, gave a nod.

Hitori took another peek outside. He reached for his wand. "Well then," he said to Kakashi, "we will kill them before they kill us." He drew his wand and closed the door.

Hitori threw everyone a glance, he stopped at Kakashi.

"You do not judge people regardless of the situation." Turning to Kamiya, he asked, "Are you in or are you out?"

Kamiya gave Akemi a serious look, and she gulped. Akemi turned to Hitori and after taking up to two minutes, she nodded. "If you trust Hitori."

"Oh, I do," Kamiya said, "he knows what he is doing."

Hitori scoffed. He turned to Eya. "You can take them out of the hospital, can not you?" he asked.

Eya snapped out of her daze. "Ah? Y-yes, we can. The enchantment is not as powerful as two of us together."

Hitori nodded. "I will get Akemi-san on a wheelchair, then you take her and her brother out of the hospital. I guess we will have to map the rest of the way on our feet."

Kakashi asked, "On our feet? To where?"

Hitori continued, "Next, you will come back to take me out of here."

"But where?"

Hitori looked into Kakashi's eyes. "To a place where we came from," he said.

He took another peek outside before rushing to Akemi. "Do you have a wand?" he asked, she shook her head, "are you a witch? Can you use the elements?"

She looked at Kamiya. Kamiya wondered: What witch? What elements?

But she nodded. "I can," she said.

"If the time comes, use your powers, just make sure you do not overuse---"

"I have control over my mana, Hitori."

He paused to nod. "Yeah. Just know that your brother is a mage who knows some spells he should not, do not exhaust your mana, Kamiya can fight a few on his own, just keep yourself safe."

"Alright, I got it!" She threw her head to the side.

He sighed, then took a deep breath. Hitori held his head low as he walked to Kamiya. He raised his head. "Use the freaking curses if you have to, stay alive, partner."

Akemi's eyes widened. "Cruses?"

Hitori ran for a wheelchair.

"Is that what you have been doing at home, Jigo? Searching for curses?" He blushed. He did not know whether to apologize or hug her, so he blushed. "W-what are you blushing for?"

He lowered his head. Hitori took the wheelchair to Akemi's bed. "Kamiya, do it," he ordered.

Kamiya looked into Akemi's eyes. "It is alright." And pointed his wand at her.

"Jigo! Jigoku, w-what?"

"Levitation." He took Akemi out of the bed, and into the wheelchair.

"Good enough." Hitori grabbed the blankets and covered her from behind. "Kuzu will be here in a few, I can see him."

"There he says it again," Kakashi muttered. He saw Hitori walking straight to him.

"I would not be able to buy much time, we need to act as soon as possible. Save your mana because Kuzu is strong and he would not be alone. And please come back quick."

"Oh..." Eya leaned forward. "Hitori-san, believe in yourself. Even if this Himbo says you are a disappointment, I know you are a great wizard, at least you have the talents of a great wizard, just like your father."

Hitori hesitated, he glanced at Kakashi, then back to Eya. "Alright. Hm." He took a deep breath. "Leave and come back safe."