Dust and Cross (13) [End]

Final Chapter

Ash dances in the "Dust." Dark clouds hung low in the sky.
She screams atop a tower that looks like a red cross.
—Heart, she calls.
"Listen to my voice! This time, I'll save you."
Izumi's high-pitched voice rings out amidst the howling gale. The wolf's ears twitch.
—Heart?
The doll-like woman before him nods.
"Heart..."
Once more, this time clearly voiced.
"That's right..." He shakes his head violently. The beast's growl faintly forms words. Not clear, but he struggles to say the words slowly. "My name is Heart..."
The name of the most important organ to a human. But... a laugh escapes him. He looks down at his beast-form, affected by the wolf extract. That is something I no longer have.
Beast... no, Heart's eyes blink weakly. His vision begins to blur. He stares at the shadow before him.
"Chikage...?"
No, is this voice Izumi's? Wait, Izumi should be dead. At the word "death," his arms hold it tighter.
"What are you...?"
The person before him frowns. Her refined face twists significantly because the blanket Heart is holding is blown by the wind. What he was holding so carefully, so very carefully, was a pale human body. A woman's corpse—how long has she been in this state? No matter how much care he takes, he cannot defy time. She looks as if she might crumble into paleness at any moment.
It was a few days ago. He had hidden the corpse in the control room at the top of the tower, where people rarely come. Since three people suddenly broke in earlier, he had panicked and fled while carrying the corpse (Nao). A bullet grazed him, but he didn't suffer any major wounds.
Perhaps she felt that he, crouching on the stairs, was too strange compared to other beastmen. That is why Izumi approached him.
He hid his face, not wanting her to see. His appearance should be completely different. However, she must have realized he was the man who saved her at the National Diet Building that day. She called out this name. To him, it sounded like... a miraculous word.
Because he is looking down, Izumi shouldn't be able to see Heart's face. A beast-form whose expressions are unreadable to begin with. Even so, it might not look like he is smiling.
"What...?"
Izumi slowly approaches. Not wanting Nao to be taken, he puts more strength into his arms.
"The person who mattered most... I couldn't save her."
He wanted her to be brought back to life. Like himself—yes, it didn't matter what form he became. Dr. Kahn could do it. Didn't that man bring him back to life, in his own way, after he died in the terror attack?
He wanted to kill that guy (the Doctor). After all, isn't it all his fault that things turned out this way?
Returning to the "Dust" from China, he had been lurking around the Doctor. Two conflicting emotions. Murderous intent, and then a faint wish. Going back and forth between them, in the end, he couldn't take any action.
He cannot return to Chikage either. The nostalgic facility has now turned into a mere ruin where corpses lie. In this form, there is nowhere for him to go.
Because he can never return to his human form. He had thought it would be like this someday. He had always thought that if he still had consciousness at that time, it would be a tragedy... Every time he beast-transformed, he killed people without guilt—so, is this retribution?
"Chikage... Izumi?" It doesn't matter which. "Kill... me."
Beyond his blurred vision, the shadow smiled. A high voice—ah, it's Izumi. In Heart's eyes, she looked strong and very beautiful.
"Please, kill me..."
In her hand, she grips a gun he has never seen before. As told, the muzzle points at him, then jumps straight up.
"Kill you? Don't joke. I refuse." Lightning streaks across the sky as if responding to her shout. "Chikage... that child might listen to me. But I won't. I won't kill you. I told you, didn't I?"
That I would definitely save you.
She shouts and pulls the trigger. In time with the lightning, as if piercing the tip of the tower.
"What are you doing...?"
Heart shrinks at every roar of thunder. The sound and light are almost simultaneous.
After several shots, it finally cuts the tip of the iron tower, a thin metal rod. Dazzling light clings to it as it falls toward him. The beastman's body convulses.
He feels like Izumi shouted something, but amidst the tremendous roar, it didn't reach Heart's ears.
※
Everyone in the "Dust" witnesses it.
Amidst the thunder, a point in the sky shines like a firework, and something small and charred falls. A shockwave and high heat strike the surrounding few kilometers, and those who were there freeze, remembering the terror of the nuclear blast.
The RATT also gets caught in the aftermath and flips over. It crashes into the wall of an abandoned building, and the people riding it are thrown out. Chikage, crawling out from the rubble, looks up at the sky.
The towering crimson tower—lightning struck it. Electricity crackles on the ground, and nearby buildings are covered in flames one after another.
"Izumi? Beast...?"
They might be there. His sister, whom he finally met, and the friend he was looking for, might be in that tower. Chikage's feet are drawn to the flaming tower. A voice from behind, Oki shouting something. It was probably a call to stop, but it didn't reach his ears. While receiving the resistance of the tremendous wind pressure, he still crawls forward.
Coming near the smoking radio tower, Chikage stops for a moment. Then he runs over. A black lump was rolling on the ground. It looked as if it had been blown away from the upper floors. It must be hundreds of meters high. Normally, it wouldn't be strange for a body to be torn apart by wind resistance while falling. Yet, that person faintly makes a sound and writhes.
"H-hey, pull yourself together."
Realizing that the groaning is from his friend Beast, Chikage lifts him up. Dirty with soot, but a familiar face. The appearance of an artificial life form that looks like a boy. His lips tremble.
"S-sorry... Izumi..."
As if startled, Chikage looks up at the sky.
"Izumi...? Beast, were you with Izumi?"
"Chika... My na...me, Izumi..."
However, Beast loses consciousness right there.
Where are you? Come to me quickly.
In this thunder, but knowing her, she must be coming down with her usual nonchalant face. That's right, no matter what happens, she will definitely return to me. He could believe that. So, he keeps waiting.
However, no matter how long he waited, his sister did not appear.
※ ※ ※
It's like something from a dream.
The three days he spent with her. Yes, was that last day Christmas? But holly doesn't bear red berries. And Izumi won't return either.
Several days have passed since then.
The house where he lived with his sister. Chikage wouldn't move from in front of that holly.
"Izumi..."
If I stay here, my sister will definitely come. Because he believed that. A charred tree. It looks just like a cross.
"Come home soon, Izumi... I waited for five years. I can't wait anymore..."
He lights the remaining three cigarettes (marijuana).
If he does this, she will definitely come, unable to watch her useless younger brother.
The sky was glowing pale blue. The light of dawn will shine soon.
If my sister is definitely dead, then for whose sake should I survive? For these five years, I've always thought so. Even so, the reason I've lived on is because of that promise.
—No matter what happens, survive. I will definitely come to save you.
If I admit she's dead, I'll go mad. So I escaped into drugs and tried to convince myself she's alive somewhere. But because I don't want to despair, I'll try to give up little by little... I'm a coward. I understood it perfectly.
He inhales the second cigarette. Smoke fills his lungs. He sighs softly and gazes at the dawning sky. High above, ash is swirling.
He reaches out to the cross-shaped holly. As if to confirm once more that it is definitely dead.
"Ouch..."
The wound he carved himself with a knife pricks his fingertip. A bright red blood overflows, and a crimson sphere like a jewel forms on his fingertip. With a flick of his hand, it spills. It falls onto the tree. Maybe this is what it's like when this tree (holly) bears fruit. Thinking that, he stares at the red.
Arakaki said the "Red Death" is the "Dust's" trump card.
He said the "Red Death" would abandon Nippon.
Nothing to be done. Chikage exhales smoke.
He is the one who killed Arakaki. What will happen to the "Dust"? He tried to think of him as an enemy. Arakaki is an enemy. He tried to use the "Red Death," his sister's name, and himself. But he just can't reconcile it. It feels like he killed both the god of salvation and the devil of conquest with his own hands. All that's left in this land are helpless humans.
In reality, a land covered in ash like this has no value at all. It's strange to be obsessed like Arakaki, but can one just abandon it easily like Izumi?
Chikage smiles bitterly. In the end, because he doesn't know what to do, he just stays here forever.
He crushes the last one. The drugs are gone, and his sister is gone too.
"Tch..."
What should I do from now on?
The wound on the holly is white. Moisture is seeping out from there. On the part of the living wood, just a tiny bit. The green of the leaf tips was hidden.
Is it still alive?
Chikage stares blankly at the charred cross. This tree, which he thought had finally died, will it still sprout leaves, grow, and someday bear red berries?
"You're a stubborn one. Just like Izumi."
He laughs. And turns his back to the garden. He pushes aside the rubble and goes outside. His friends should be waiting in the city.
In the gray city, the corpses of beastmen lay scattered like claw marks.
"Chikage!"
Beast—no, Heart, finds him first and runs over. In the form of the boy Chikage is used to.
"Either way, it's a confusing name."
He intended to say it so he wouldn't hear, but his friend expressed displeasure.
"My real name is Shinzo... and yeah, I was embarrassed. It's like a period drama. So, I used Heart as a nickname. Shinzo -> Heart. I quite liked this one. Isn't it good?"
"...Is that so?"
The fast talking he should be used to is truly annoying. Such a friend falls silent for a moment.
"Chikage..." His voice drops. "Thank you for letting me bury Nao."
"Y-yeah..."
Heart would never let go of her corpse that he was holding. Chikage had dug a large hole at the base of the holly, like when planting a seedling, and taken his friend there. If you bury her here, she will never be forgotten. At least, I and Izumi will remember—he said.
"I'm sorry, Chikage."
After covering the woman with soil, he said that and cried. Thinking of Nao, and then thinking of Izumi. Chikage just watched, having no way to comfort him as he cried alone for hours.
"I really loved Izumi. Most of the Arakaki videos were also secretly filmed by me." Saying that, he smiles faintly. "At that time... during that terror attack, I thought I could die for Izumi. And yet, this time, because of me, Izumi..."
There's no way she could survive. She was in a place where that much lightning struck. Beastman or not, she was a human of flesh and blood...
Heart said that and cried. Chikage didn't answer. Because he never intended to admit that Izumi was dead. So he didn't need to cry like his friend. He just glares at the sky where ash swirls.
Now Heart is back to his usual self, chattering away. "Man, I'm beat. I really, really hate this. It's the worst," he repeats.
"Why do I have to clean up the corpses in the city? Oki should just do it alone. It's his hobby anyway."
Shrinking his body against the blowing wind, Chikage also nods silently.
The two walk toward the center of the city. As they approach the radio tower, the number of beastmen corpses, or humans, increases.
Lightning with unprecedented, enormous energy struck the radio tower. It seems lightning rods were ineffective. When Izumi cut the metal beam at the tip with her gun and it fell, the lightning struck it directly.
"She does reckless things."
Did she think that if she gave the beastman's body an unbearable load, Heart would return to normal? A reckless gamble. Didn't she think he might just die? And even he, who received that impact at close range...
In the end, Izumi's corpse wasn't found, and neither was May's. It seems the beastmen in the city were built to be fragile against external attacks because they prioritized attack power. Most died from the shockwave and are now lying around everywhere.
Finding the figures of a man and woman in black in the middle of those corpses, Chikage waves his hand lightly.
"That sight is also kind of scary, isn't it..." Heart mutters in a small voice.
They couldn't leave the city like this, so all the residents were gathering the corpses in one place. Because of the sheer number, even Oki's expression is dark.
"How is it? Corpse fetish."
At Heart's light remark, the undertaker looks up and glares.
"You guys help too."
Makiko, working silently, nods as if to say she agrees. However, Chikage, who is covering his mouth with both hands, doesn't even have the leeway to answer.
"I'm actually pretty okay with it."
Saying that, Heart is searching the clothes of a human corpse that seems to have been killed by a beastman.
"Oh, this is quite thick."
"Stop it!" Chikage yells.
Although he finds a wallet among the corpse's belongings and pulls out bills, Heart shakes his head and throws the bills away.
"No good. Yen can't be used!"
It has to be dollars or yuan, he shouts. At the loud voice, those working on the spot turn around all at once. Panicked, hiding the wallet behind his back, Heart rolls up his sleeves exaggeratedly.
"I-I'll help too."
With humans only, he adds, and sticks his hand into the pocket of a new corpse.
"Me too."
Oki stands up from the pile of beastmen. He takes off the clothes of the corpse Heart threw away and carefully wipes the body with a towel soaked in alcohol. Humans are definitely better than beastmen. The look of joy on his face.
"...You perverts."
Chikage sits down on the spot. Irritation wells up along with nausea. He searches his own jacket, but that's right, the cigarettes (drugs) are gone.
"Ah... damn it."
He clicks his tongue repeatedly. A moment ago, he thought maybe he'd be fine without drugs, but it's impossible after all. At least as long as these guys are around.
That's when it happens. A black shadow falls over Chikage, who is sitting on the ground.
"Chikage, what are you thinking?"
It's Makiko. She stands tall and looks down at him. She, who had been working silently alone while looking at the madness, seems to have been thinking about something all along. Or does she have something to tell Chikage?
"Thinking about what?"
What about this woman too? At first, she spoke in polite language, perhaps out of respect for the captain's younger brother, but now she is completely in a commanding tone.
"We must think seriously about the current situation. We have lost our nation and lost our nationality."
"Nations don't matter, do they?"
Glaring at Heart, who speaks up from the side, she continues.
"While we were protected by a sovereign state, one could say such carefree things. But what is it now? We won't be recognized as refugees by international organizations. If by any chance another country's military attacks, or if a conflict occurs within this land, what will happen? Are you thinking, Chikage? If that happens, the weak will die first. It will be a living hell."
"Thinking... why should I?"
This eyepatch woman started saying strange things.
"Restore the sovereignty of the Nippon people? Are you telling me to storm an international organization? Or should I arm myself for the sake of the 'Dust' if something happens? I'm not Izumi. Don't joke. Impossible!"
Because he shouted, it welled up from the depths of his stomach. Groaning, Chikage vomits in the middle of the road.
"Hang in there, Chikage. I'll help too."
Rubbing his friend's back, Heart says something irresponsible. Oki, whom he glanced at, is obsessed with the corpses and isn't listening to their conversation. Whether he should be relieved by that or not.
Whatever, I don't care anymore. Chikage sighs. Fine. I'll storm the UN headquarters or wherever. Izumi would probably do that too.
From the sky he looked up at, snow falls softly.
It's not ash. How many years has it been since he saw it? Someone let out a cheer.
"No wonder it's cold," Chikage mutters.
"I wanted to show Nao..." Heart's voice was raspy. "Izumi would have been happy too."
"Who knows..."
She would surely have gleefully thrown a snowball at her younger brother. Imagining that, Chikage smiles.
Sound disappears from the street. A pure white color fills the gray city.
Dust and Cross - End