Hitman x Wives

Chapter 256 256- Me And You (Part 1)

The more Kai went up, the more the images of him sitting on that table reading a book made him frown. This sudden lack of change made him realize that he indeed spent a very long time alone, simply reading and doing nothing else.

He understood that his life up until that point was akin to that of a doll rather than a human being. He believed that by reading books, he was going against his father and what he wanted to do with him.

However, when he saw that monotonic life, that lack of color in his life, he understood that he was simply doing the opposite. He was killing his own interest in life by simply doing one single thing again and again and again with no end.

After a few more floors of the same picture, he finally reached the point where he met Aria. He could see that the gloomy effect on the images had started disappearing and it started going back to the brighter light.

Kai noticed that the better and happier the memory is, the brighter the light of the floor is. Seeing the image of the two kids sitting next to each other reading and laughing together, he felt rather nostalgic.

Those memories were one of the happiest times of Kai's life. A time that was ruined by realization that it was all fake but it was still a happy time that he looked back on from time to time when he can.

Kai didn't know what would've happened if Aria didn't appear that day in his library. Perhaps he would still be in that library, reading the endless number of books he had or perhaps he would be dead. He really didn't know the answer to that question.

But, he already remembers this stuff clearly so he moved on. The next floor was the same as the one before where Kai and Aria enjoyed each other's company.

The next one was the same except in a different place which was the forest they were in before. That month was by far the happiest Kai had ever been. Everything was perfect and he felt like he was truly living his life. He smiled, laughed and did all kinds of fun things with Aria.

That time was the peak of his life in every sense of the word. Perhaps he came back to that peak when he met Eva and Kaya but he still found that time to be very precious. Well, that was before everything went downhill.

So, the next set of stairs truly felt horrible for Kai to climb as he knew what was waiting for him. Low and behold, the next set of stairs was when he reached the temple city and faced the three devouts. He clearly remembers how he used Wretched Heart for the first time there and was able to kill the three of them with one swing.

That was the first time Kai realized how dangerous his sword was and decided not to use it unless necessary. The devil inside of it would be more than glad to take over him if he overused it.

Then, the next floor was when he faced his father and Aria which was still the lowest point of Kai's life.

He truly hated that moment because he felt weak, clueless and completely outplayed. He was always in control no matter what situation it was. One of the reasons why he always was in control was because of that moment where he learned that he was truly not as smart as he thought he was.

He also learned that he shouldn't let his emotions be the one to take the decision. His brain was the first and wisest tool to avoid danger and betrayal.

Staring at the boy who was frozen in his place, Kai could only sigh inwardly.

"You got tricked, didn't you?" He muttered in a low tone. "You were outplayed and you lost. That's the consequence of trusting too much."

He really loathed his old self a lot. It was naive, weak and very much easy to trick even though he was supposedly very cunning even as a kid.

However, reality was harsher than he realized. That same confidence he had got shattered when he faced real emotions for the first time.

"Just go…" He murmured as he looked away as if he was talking to his old self.

After all, he wasn't even sure if he was able to truly overcome that pain. To this day, Aria was still a dilemma to him. He felt like he hated her but also didn't quite hate her. He felt that there was something odd about her and yet he couldn't find it yet.

Every time he thought about killing her and ending all of this mess, something in him will stop him. It wasn't old emotions nor a wise and calculative side but something else. Something that exceeded instincts.

There relationship in the past few months went through a series of changes, small and big ones. But, the main change is that he didn't feel the urge to kill her quite as much as before. That fact alone confused the boy more than he thought was possible.

"Just go…" As he said those words again, he started moving to the next floor.

What happened after that was a series of dissected memories from multiple periods of his life. His hitman guild career, some of his killed targets, his meeting with Eva and how he lived his life hidden in society even as a kid.

Then, it moved to after he left the guild, and how he lived five years of his life in secrecy from the guild and from Eva.

That time was particularly pleasant for Kai as nothing major happened to him. He was able to live a very normal life through and through. Granted, it wasn't the most fantastic life that could compared to the one he's living currently but it still had its charms.

After those five years came the time he met Kaya, how he reunited with Eva and how the chaos of his past life came back to his current life. He watched as he toppled down every enemy that reappeared to defeat him and took the underworld by chaos.

Those memories, as recent as they were, felt like they happened years ago or even decades ago. 

'The past year was very eventful, wasn't it?' He thought to himself as he moved to the next floor.

There, he found himself directly against the guild, fighting them. Then he faced Eva who was being controlled by her own talent. Then, he discovered Divinity's plans and the problems that came along with it.

Kai was even slightly surprised that he was able to live through all of this without feeling the stress that came with it.

After all of that, he finally reached what he assumed to be the end since he was near the ceiling. Above that ceiling was the hourglass. There, he saw a memory that he didn't expect.

In the middle of the platform stood a completely identical copy of him. The difference between the other images and this one was that this one had features. It had a cold expression and even the presence to back it up.

Kai stood there, staring at his copy with squinted eyes. For some reason, he didn't feel like this particular illusion was fake like the other ones. He could feel a presence there, clearly identical to his presence.

"Can you… speak?" He asked out of nowhere as if he wanted to confirm a suspicion of his.

Then he waited for a few seconds. However, no answer came so he was about sigh, thinking that he was silly for suspecting that it wasn't an illusion. However, that's when he heard a voice speaking.

"What do you think?" The voice was shockingly identical to his voice.

No, it wasn't just identical, it was the same voice. Kai couldn't believe his ears for a second as he looked up at his copy.

"So you can speak."

"I'm you, why can't I speak if you can?" The copy replied with the same cold tone.

"... Interesting. Why do you exist here then?"

"I'm a fragment of your memory, I exist in your head rather in this place. This tower simply stimulated those memories. What you're seeing right now is what your mind thinks of you." The copy said with certainy.

After all of that, he finally reached what he assumed to be the end since he was near the ceiling. Above that ceiling was the hourglass. There, he saw a memory that he didn't expect.

In the middle of the platform stood a completely identical copy of him. The difference between the other images and this one was that this one had features. It had a cold expression and even the presence to back it up.