Memento Mori
Ep. 8 Crime 1: First Revenge (4)

Why do they know? Did they really know about the sale?, Arai thought in a dilemma. He does not want to answer. But seeing Nana's cold gaze, he threatened to punish her again with this electric chair if she did not answer.

"You sold them. Now answer my question. What are you selling them for?" nana said, pushing back a little.

Three choices were given, there was one answer that actually happened to him - No. In fact it was the path of his life - his early self chose this path.

"For..." Arai gulps down the dry esophagus, "...Survival..."

Nana was a little stunned by Arai's answer which she seemed to have not expected, seeing Arai's childish demeanor from the start.

"Living with life." Nana crossed her hands in front of her chest, her tone again turning cold as she pressed Arai to answer. "Sure answer."

Pretty good?! What do they know?!, Arai seemed annoyed in silence.

"Living for injustice in the world. Surviving radical thoughts. Surviving will be despair. You chose to commit such a crime to just survive? This whole survival thing's got us all here." Nana was silent for a moment staring blankly at Arai, before she spoke again, "Do we really need to survive?"

Arai was a little surprised by Nana's last words. It was as if something had pierced his heart for a moment. Inwardly, he wondered, Is all this for survival?

"Your father was a heavy drunk, wasn't he? It must be very difficult to control someone whose common sense is no longer here." Nana touched her head with her index finger. "To forget about suffering for a moment, and then to make misery prolonged."

"After his body was no longer in control, your mother replaced him. Your kind and meek mother, it makes your life worse and falls into a bottomless black hole."

Arai snarled, He clenched his hands together.

"Your mother was in debt in large numbers. Only for the sake of living the only child who is a hope for him. So what did he do for this child he expected? What did your mother say to her last letter? Pardon you? Thank me? Or good-bye?"

"SILENCE!! HOW DO YOU KNOW ALL THAT? WHO ARE YOU!!? WHO ARE YOU ALL?! WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME?!" Arai could not bear to hear all the past suffering he wanted to bury deeply. No one knows but him, not even his relatives and family.

Nana was still calm. Even though Arai is going crazy to hear his past.

"Isn't that unfair? Why do I have to 'me' experience it? What should 'me' do?" nana describes Arai's life from her past. "Is survival the right answer?"

Arai puffed up to hold back his writhing emotions within his body. Until without realizing it tears came out of both his eyes. Either these tears of anger or tears of self-pity.

Why should I survive in a world like this?

"I want to show you something" Nana told Arai to look at the screen collar. "META, can you show 'it'."

"Akan. I'm. Show."

The META monitor screen changed, showing photos of children who were victims of Arai's abduction. In the photos, the children who were victims in the first and second cases, all seemed to smile innocently cheerfully.

"Are they not happy children?"

"Their parents take good care of them yes, so they can smile innocently like that. Unfortunately, one of them is no longer back."

The photos displayed on the screen amounted to 3 pieces. One photo of the victim of the first case and two photos of the victim of the second case.

"I'm a little jealous of them. I even forgot about my childhood." Nana turned back to face Arai, "Your case is determined and courageous, inversely proportional to your stupid and uncalculated attitude. Therefore the police caught you twice."

"The location when you look for victims is an amusement park or city park. Why is it in such a crowded place?"

Nana deliberately made it into a question.

"Because there, you can see the children and their parents together." replied Nana herself, "You hate them. Their happiness is suffering for you. Since childhood you can only be confined in a house filled with the sounds of fighting your parents.I hate them. Why aren't they like me? Why should I?! They must feel it too!'." Nana suppressed her words in the last words.

"And be a victim to you, to at least reduce your own suffering. The debt you can pay off by selling those kids and the money by threatening their parents. Encouraging the parents of these children to feel a lifelong sense of guilt for endangering their own sons and daughters."

"Quite..please stop...that's enough.." murmured Arai felt haunted by the past back. Memories that he began to forget with a feeling of pleasure when committing the crime, slowly reappeared one by one.

"The right answer, why do you need that kind of money is to run away."

"Running away from the fact that you're different. Running away that you have to face a problem that is not really your business. Escape that you're useless in this world."

"Yes, even if you run away, you can still live. But what about your mother, who escaped by taking her own life."

Nana walked towards Arai who was bowed. He brought his face closer to Arai's ear, then said in a fine whisper,

"Fruit is not far from the tree. You look like your father. Alcohol destroys his life and his family. Now your crimes are destroying you and your environment. If your mother is revived, she will definitely hang herself a second time."

Nana grinned at the look in Arai's eyes looking shocked up close. Nana did not expect her body to goosebumps of pleasure when she saw Arai showing that incredible expression.

"Aahaha!! That expression..." Nana could not help her sudden excitement, so she wanted to laugh.

Arai opened his mouth and closed. It was like saying something with a very small tone of voice almost inaudible. Nana who noticed it, stopped laughing and allowed Arai to speak.

"You are right.but you are one of those things..." Arai's eyes reddened with an expression that turned drastically into a look of anger, "I might be like my father, but my mother.in the letter he wrote.saying I must stay alive no matter what! DON'T TALK ABOUT IT!!"

Nana doesn't like that answer. His expression turned cold instantly.

"living away? Don't joke." said Nana, "People like us have no choice to live."

"Life is only for 'They'."[ ]

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