Kabata Katsuki

“Yeah, I wanted to talk to you once again,” The coarse voice said.

“About what matter, Ishida-sama?” My voice replied.

“About the… About the third battle of second in-command and the hero.”

I was kneeling down as I stood inside the dark open court of the castle. It was lighted with bright orange flames in the lanterns on either side of the enormous court. The court had a dark red carpet in the middle, on which I was kneeling down, and the carpet went on to the steps at the front, and finally seeped inside the golden throne of the king, laden with crimson silk and stuffed with inch-long diamond beads. On top of the crimson gold throne sat a slender and dark figure with its head inside the shadows of the darkness of the court, donning a red shirt and a black pair of pants, along with black boots and a black robe. On top of his dark head was a golden crown, sitting a little tilted to his left, shining brightly. The right leg of the figure was on top of the throne, with his body tilted a little to his left, balancing through the left armrest.

I gulped in as I sat down some steps away from him, kneeling on the ground. I had my right hand in front of my chest and my left hand at my back. “Why would your honor like to know about the third battle between the second in-command and the hero, if I may ask, Ishida-sama?”

As he sat dominantly and casually on top of the throne in that scary position, he moved his right arm up, took up his crown, and moved it down straight toward his waist. “Curiosity, Katsuki,” He replied as he kept the crown on top of his thigh. “I wanna know what piece of shit Imma be fighting against.”

“Your honor should not worry about fighting against the hero, Ishida-sama.”

“The prophecy… is gonna come true now. There’s nobody stopping it. We’ve lost many chances, Katsuki. It’s a sign from God.”

“Another battle between me and the hero is fixed, Ishida-sama, and Imma be sure to overturn the destiny this time.”

“Didn’t ya promise the same when ya went to massacre Surfurine?”

The crackling of the flames hit my ears as there was a silence of a couple of seconds between the two of us.

“Y-Yes, Ishida-sama.”

“And now, elaborate how the attack on The Bar failed.”

“Ishida-sama, we attacked right where every single comrade of the hero was. We were a little low on numbers, and that’s why, it took us time to reach the hero, and when we’d finally found him, he was ready to escape with everyone else.”

“So ya seven guys were not even able to defeat nine of nobodies?”

“No, sir, it’s just that it took us a little longer due to more people we needed to defeat. At the end of the attack, we had three of us still in perfect condition to fight, whereas almost all of them were injured. If the police would not have interrupted, we’d have captured more of them.”

“Capturing more of ‘em ain’t gonna help, Katsuki. Ya know that.”

I gulped in again. “Y-Yeah, Ishida-sama.”

Keisuke then moved his right hand on the crown on top of his left thigh, moved the crown to his right, hung it on top of the right armrest by its rim, and then moved his right foot down on the ground, straightening his tilted body. “So, what should I do this time, Katsuki?”

I remained silent as I knew what was coming.

“TELL ME WHAT SHOULD I FUCKING DO THIS TIME TO YA?!”

“… To ya?”

“To ya?”

His scolding hard voice echoed in the whole room. I stayed kneeling down in front of him, my forehead sweating out. My arms and chest were trembling a little.

“I-I’m sorry, your honor.”

His dark figure sat dominantly on his shining throne silently for a couple of seconds. The silhouette of his face was glaring at me. He then moved his head down, moving his butt up from the shining crimson silk, and stood straight up from his throne.

His face came inside the shadows of the light this time. He had blonde hair and dark black eyes. His ears had blue earrings on them as he looked at me dominantly and authoritatively. “I gotta make sure y’are scarred for life, so that you fight with all yer might in the last battle against the hero. Therefore, Imma punish ya the same way ya should be punished as stated in the prophecy.”

My eyes turned open wide. “Y-Y-Your honor—!”

“Unfortunately, that’s the only way to punish ya now, Keisuke. No hard feelings involved, really.”

“B-But, your hono—!” I moved my head up, scared like hell.

Keisuke turned to his right and started to walk away from his throne. “The only way to scar a warrior is to take away his reproductive organ. That’s why I gotta take one of your balls. This way, ya will never be able to satisfy a woman in bed completely.”

THUD. THUD. THUD. THUD.

I looked at his back walking away as he was about to enter the corridor made of white marble and lighted with lanterns fixed at regular intervals. He suddenly stopped, turned to his left at me, and said, “And yer left eye too, remember.”

I looked at his expressionless eyes as he turned to his front again and entered the dark corridor filled with bright orange flames.

THUD. THUD. THUD.

I heard the vanishing footsteps of the ruler. My eyes were wide open in shock, my lips open in fright, as I looked at the corridor. My chest was paining as it trembled. My whole body was shivering with fright.