Confrontation and Truth
The sun was slowly beginning to set, changing its color from orange to red.
Before it completely disappeared below the horizon, obscured by the black silhouettes of buildings and trees.
And the sky's color changed from blue to navy blue, mingling with the glow of the falling sun.
And the day was ending, just like the current season.
Summer was slowly turning into autumn, but Tsunehito remained stuck in the same place.
Ignoring the stares of strangers, as he knew, who, as he knew, were judging him from top to bottom.
And yet, with no intention of hiding the fact that they were doing just that.
And now he sat, as always, like that last guy in the same dingy cafe.
A cafe that served the disgusting liquid they called "coffee."
A, which, no matter how you looked at it, as everyone knows, didn't look like it at all.
However, nothing else that was "edible" and didn't contain liquid alcohol was available in this place.
If he had had the choice, he probably would never have set foot in this place.
Especially not on this worn-out floor, which had seen its glory centuries ago.
A, which was plastered with God only knows what, which, as we know, Tsunehito didn't want to know.
He didn't mention the same, worn-out old chairs and tables, whose color had long since faded.
Added to this were the darkened walls, the torn, crumpled pieces of dirty fabric that could once have been called curtains.
And from the ceiling hung old, barely hanging lamps, the grime inside them barely allowing any light from the bulbs to pass through.
No wonder, then, that he couldn't understand why they still wanted to work here.
Especially since people were looking in here, which was beyond his capabilities, but he couldn't do anything about it.
That's because it was the only place in this whole, flea-infested city.
From here, he stared for a moment at the gray windows, through which he could see almost nothing.
At the same time, he tried to gather his chaotic thoughts, which, for all intents and purposes, refused to let him put them together.
Which, as Tsunehito knew, wasn't convenient, but he realized he had no other choice.
No matter how much he thought, nothing really came to mind.
So he sighed heavily and looked at what was currently in front of him.
Which didn't fill him with optimism at all, because he didn't really want to drink it.
“How on earth did this place still exist? If I were me, I'd either renovate it or just close it down and sell it to someone else…,” Tsunehito muttered to himself, slowly sipping from a worn cup.
A cup that might once have belonged to an expensive set, because the same was true of the "supposed" saucer it had been sitting on just moments ago.
And now it was in his hands, and he was practically examining it from every angle.
With each passing moment, he felt worse and worse, from the musty smell wafting through this stagnant, long-unaired room.
Added to this was the smoke from the cigarettes, which were smoked compulsively here, with no regard for the health of others.
Tsunehito increasingly wanted to leave this shady establishment with a questionable reputation.
However, to his chagrin, he couldn't quite do so, which irritated him greatly.
And the clock hanging on the wall had long since shown the same time it had died, and no one had bothered to look at it again.
No one on the staff had yet thought to replace its batteries.
Which he wasn't surprised about, because the staff themselves were both very strange and suspicious.
“How much longer do I have to fucking wait?!,” Tsunehito cursed under his breath.
At the same time, he reached into his bag to pull out his cell phone to check the current time.
From which he could learn that it was just after 9 p.m.
And he still hadn't received any texts from his girlfriend, which was starting to get very suspicious.
It was no wonder, then, that his stomach began to tighten again as he recalled the latest news.
And in it, it was reported that another victim of the "Psychopathic Vampire" had appeared, who had not yet been apprehended.
And the killer's name came from that, because each of the victims bore stab wounds on their necks, as if they had been inflicted with a thick needle.
The police still had no clue how the perpetrator drained his victims of blood, because nothing had fit them so far.
That was because they didn't believe the perpetrator was truly a vampire, because to them, such creatures were just a tall tale.
However, Tsunehito believed that every story had a grain of truth, but that was just his opinion.
And that didn't mean others had a completely different opinion in that regard.
“I have nothing to think about either, only such idiocies!,” Tsunehito muttered to himself under his breath.
And after a moment, he unlocked his phone and searched his contacts for his girlfriend's number.
That was because he finally decided to call her, because, as we all know, something could have happened and she simply forgot to call.
That happened sometimes, so it could have happened this time too, although it didn't have to.
He wasn't going to think about the fact that she had simply ignored him.
He secretly hoped that wasn't the case, which, as we all know, was very possible.
He tried to call her, but so far, he had been unsuccessful.
So he locked his phone and put it back in his bag, only to get up from the creaking chair a moment later.
He was also filled with the smell of cigarettes, alcohol, and musty air, and paid for his lousy coffee.
To leave this place, stepping out into the crisp October night air that momentarily choked him.
He finally could take a deep breath and take a deep breath, something he had never been able to do before.
He looked again at the window and door of this place, which, to be honest, didn't seem inviting at all.
And the people passing by paid no attention to this place at all, as if, in their opinion, it didn't even exist.
He just sighed quietly, wrapping the jacket he was wearing that day tighter around himself.
At the same time, he cursed profusely under his breath for not wearing a thicker jacket, but he knew it was long past teatime and there was nothing he could do about it.
"Why am I still standing here, like this last peg?," Tsunehito asked himself after a moment.
At the same time, he stared at the multicolored leaves falling from the trees nearby.
It might have been a rather interesting sight, but then again, watching it alone wasn't what he dreamed of right now.
That was because he saw happy, laughing couples who didn't seem to mind, with others staring at them.
Deep down, he envied the boys their girlfriends could now cuddle up to.
When he couldn't, as we all know, experience it out of spite, because his girlfriend wasn't with him.
Finally, he couldn't bear to watch it anymore, so he moved forward, longing only for a cup of good chocolate and a bed to warm himself up.
He couldn't forgive her for treating him like that, especially since she hadn't even bothered to answer his call.
A part of him, however, subconsciously worried about her, wondering if something had happened to her and that was why she couldn't answer.
That was the only thing that came to mind at the moment, not what was about to happen.
The cold finally began to really bother him, so without thinking any further, he headed towards the bus stop.
Because just standing there wasn't really doing anything for Tsunehito anymore, which was really killing him.
For some reason, he was slowly starting to have mixed feelings about all of this.
Therefore, something deep inside him told him that she had simply stood him up and had no intention of meeting him today.
Which was highly probable, but he didn't want to consider it.
“In that case, I'll try calling her again tomorrow. And if not, I'll just go to her house…,” Tsunehito replied after a moment with resignation.
At the same time, he wondered what excuse she would have for standing him up like that at a time of year like this.
Not only was he being torn by a ghastly wind, but he was also torn by the conflicting emotions inside him, which were giving him no peace.
He wanted to get rid of them, but he couldn't do it with every step he took.
And his path was crossed, as if out of spite, by couples in love, embracing each other as if nothing had happened.
At that moment, he wanted to go and jump off a nearby bridge, never to see this again.
However, even that option would be useless, so he had no choice but to ignore them and simply press forward.
Although it wasn't as easy as he had initially thought, and that was the worst part.
So he simply shook his head and focused on what lay ahead, because that was the most important thing right now.
"For what sins do I have to watch this?," Tsunehito asked after a moment, sighing heavily as he lowered his head, pausing for a moment.
He didn't even want to know the answer to that question, as he considered it too rhetorical.
Eventually, however, he continued forward, turning into another alley to notice that the streetlights had been burning for some time.
Only dreaming of nothing more than a warm bed and his most expensive pillow and blanket.
Until, a moment later, a familiar voice, one he hadn't expected in a place like this, pulled him out of his thoughts.
No wonder, then, that he approached closer but hid for some reason he couldn't quite grasp.
As if something subconsciously told him it would be better to hide than not.
Because it was the only way he could calmly eavesdrop on their conversation, which was growing more and more terrifying with each passing moment.
If he hadn't stayed so long, he probably wouldn't have heard it.
“Honey, you shouldn't have stood him up like that for me! You could have at least lied about something suddenly coming up. And you certainly shouldn't have ignored his calls!,” the boy, who was currently hugging Tsunehito's girlfriend, announced after a moment.
"I'm perfectly aware of that, but there was no point anyway. So I'll call him tomorrow to apologize, baby!," she replied, looking at him like nothing had happened.
The words "baby, honey" and others like them that fell from her lips towards the boy made him jealous.
That's because she never spoke to him like that, which, as everyone knows, was very frustrating.
He had suspected something was up for a while, but he had no proof until this crucial moment.
Now he could be one hundred percent sure that he was just a toy in her and that boy's hands.
And that made it hurt even more because he probably would never find out.
Unless she had broken up with him and told him their relationship was truly pointless, it probably wouldn't have hurt so much.
And even more so, the mere fact that she'd been seeing someone else for some time wouldn't have made any impression on him.
But it was completely different, and that was the worst part, but he quickly returned to listening to their conversation.
"So, where are we going?," he asked after a moment, staring at her, his eyes never leaving hers as he spoke.
"What do you mean, where? To the place where I was supposed to meet him today, because it's the only place in this area!," she replied after a moment, a smile etched on her face.
"Didn't you think he might still be there, waiting for you?," he asked again after a moment, a little amused for some unknown reason.
"I don't think he's still there, not after all these hours. We can go there safely," she announced, not a little amused, then finally followed him.
His sadness and frustration turned into anger and hatred for her and the scoundrel who was with her.
Tsunehito wanted to go up to them, slap her, and end this lousy relationship once and for all.
It took him a moment to gather his emotions and think clearly.
He sighed quietly, reassuring himself, knowing that when he confronted them now, they would pretend it was completely different.
And he, foolishly, still hoped he would be happy with her.
"I won't let myself be treated like this?!," Tsunehito said to himself, biting his small but alluring lips.
His mouth, which immediately twisted into a grimace he was completely unaware of, as he knew.
He adjusted the bag he was carrying on his shoulder and slowly left his dark hiding place, like a shadow.
He no longer cared about anything; the only thing that mattered to him was getting this over with.
He didn't care what his friends said; all that mattered to him now was his happiness, which had been so terribly snatched from him and simultaneously trampled upon.
Now he felt like the last worthless piece of trash, which he didn't like at all, hence he had nothing left to lose.
That's why he could say everything that was on his mind.
"Who do we have here, ladies and gentlemen?," Tsunehito growled after a moment, cheerfully blocking the path they were currently taking.
Their expressions at the sight of him were music to his wounded, trampled soul, which immediately lifted his spirits.
Armed with a killer smile that would have floored anyone, he stared at them, barely blinking.
He had no intention of moving from this spot, even if they wanted and demanded it of him.
He hadn't waited this long to get no answers to the questions concerning them that troubled him.
He didn't care that they were shocked; he could have listened to this idiot and waited to move in that direction.
That was because he had to wait for what he'd said to sink in.
"What, are you speechless? Did someone cut your tongue off?," Tsunehito asked after a moment, no longer hiding his amusement, which masked his anger and the urge to lunge at them.
And they stood there, as if they'd at least glimpsed the basilisk in him.
It was starting to get a bit annoying, honestly, the longer he looked at it.
So he slowly began to approach them, waving his bag as he did so, as if casually.
For some reason, the longer he watched them, the more he wanted to laugh at them.
They looked as if they'd seen a ghost or some other supernatural being, not a flesh-and-blood human being like he was.
On the other hand, however, he wondered if he'd done the right thing by suddenly jumping out like a filipino from hemp, to say the least.
Well, there was no turning back now, but at least he didn't have to worry about that whore anymore.
In that respect, Tsunehito could breathe a sigh of relief, but she still wouldn't understand that someone like you was worried about her.
He didn't even care about the words of his parents, let alone someone like her, who, as you can see, meant nothing to her.
What had he learned in such a lousy situation that he wasn't too happy about?
"I thought you'd been home for ages!," his now-ex-girlfriend finally groaned at the sight of him.
"I was just getting home after calling you like an idiot for hours. You don't have to explain yourself to me, I heard everything you said to that "charming" idiot who was clinging to you so tightly. If you want to know, we're over, so I don't want to see your face again, and therefore, I'm breaking up with you! Now, I'm so sorry!," Tsunehito announced to them, not even looking at the blond bastard, who currently had such an idiotic expression that his blood was boiling at the sight of him.
"WHAT AM I ASKING YOU FOR?!," she shouted after him, confused, as he walked away as quickly as possible, not even looking at them.
"He can't hear you anymore, there's no point in yelling at him, you heard what she said!," the blond squealed, his eyes sparkling with joy like two diamonds.
"Fuck! It's your fault he found out about us like that! If you hadn't pushed us, we'd be vacationing in Hawaii right now!," she hissed, furious that she'd lost her chance to get rich quickly because of that idiot.
Tsunehito pretended not to hear them, but he could hear perfectly well what they were saying after he left.
