(Toji POV)
Toji was walking down the street feeling constant stares on him, but there was no one on the street, instead, everyone was hiding at home, watching him through the cracks in the doors and windows.
Toji's lips trembled, it seemed he needed to move to a different city again.
Sighing, he had no regrets, his Unwinged Angel sequence was already 80% complete.
He was the only one left to complete his acting, out of the first three sequences, so he could move on to sequence 6.
Shaking his head, he thought for a moment, then decided against staying in that village, the people here had already received enough "help".
He thought of Afro and felt that enough time had passed, he would go after him again.
Afro seemed to have learned his lesson and was hiding from him, but unfortunately for him, Toji had left a clone following him, so Afro wouldn't be able to escape.
//-//
Toji appeared directly in front of a cave, it was a bear's cave, but there was no bear in sight. Instead, inside the cave, a man sat with his eyes closed, his katana resting on his knees.
Toji didn't hide, so as soon as he arrived, Afro opened his eyes.
A deep, irritated sigh escaped his lips.
He admitted that Toji was persistent, but the worst part was that the way he was pursuing him only frustrated him more. Hit him, ask him if he wants to be his subordinate, then leave.
That was basically their routine.
Afro stood up, holding his sword in one hand as he exited the cave. Toji was already there, standing with Shakukonto in his hands.
-You're persistent.- Afro observed. He preferred not to speak, but at that point, he wanted to find a solution, even if it meant stepping outside his comfort zone.
-I am.- Toji nodded.
-You're not going to stop, are you?- Afro stared at him with empty eyes.
-I will, when you agree to be my subordinate.- Toji nodded.
Afro remained silent, Toji also didn't speak, the pair stayed silent for a long moment.
Afro closed his eyes, tired, and when he opened them again, his eyes were already sharp. - So be it, one last fight, if you win, I can be your subordinate.
He didn't ask why, nor what Toji wanted him to do, he didn't care. Or rather, he could sense who Toji was through his sword. He knew Toji wouldn't ask him to do something that went against his values. Even if he did, Afro could refuse, at most, he would die. He wasn't afraid to die.
Toji smiled, and in the next moment, a green aura surrounded his body. It was only a fraction of a second later that Toji appeared behind Afro. Afro's eyes slowly widened, and a diagonal cut from his shoulder to his waist appeared on his chest. Blood gushed out as Toji placed Shakukonto back into its sheath in the snake's mouth.
He opened the third gate directly, and moreover, with his performance in his first three sequences progressing by leaps and bounds, he was already much stronger than Afro.
Afro fell, still clutching his sword, blood gushing wildly from his chest.
He slowly turned his gaze to Toji.
-Looks like you lost.- Toji said, his hands in his pockets.
Afro opened his mouth, but in the end, nothing came out, just a sigh.
The pair looked at each other in silence again, until Afro spoke. - I'm dying.
Toji seemed to snap back to reality, scratched his head, and laughed sheepishly. -Sorry, I forgot about that.
He bent down and began to heal Afro's chest. Afro stared at him for a moment before closing his eyes, wondering what kind of life he would lead from now on.
//-//
Two days later, Afro felt it would have been better to have died in that forest.
Once he was healed, he started following Toji, hoping Toji would take him around risking his life. The result?
-I ask again, do you enjoy hitting women?- Toji held a man covered in bruises, the man's wife wasn't far away, she had a bruised lip and some purple marks on her body.
It all started when Toji overheard a man in a bar talking about how "useless" his wife was, he mentioned how he beat her whenever she burned the eggs, among other things.
Toji didn't say anything. When the man left, he followed him, and Afro followed behind him. He didn't like the man either, so he thought Toji was going to kill him.
Instead, he beat the man in front of his wife, the woman was trembling fiercely but didn't dare run away.
Toji continued hitting him, the man had apologized hundreds of times, but Toji kept hitting him.
After finishing, Toji even made the woman hit the man. The woman shook her head fiercely, she didn't want to do it, she clearly had a weak spirit.
Toji didn't take no for an answer, he did something to the woman. The woman, with an extremely fierce expression, grabbed a pan and beat her husband to death. Yes, the already weakened man was beaten even more by his wife, ultimately dying in the process.
Afro thought that was it, but the next moment, Toji spoke to the snake on his shoulder, the snake approached the corpse, did something to it, and the next moment, the man began to breathe again. Not only that, but his wounds were quickly healed.
While Afro was still stunned, Toji grabbed the surprised man and brought him in front of the woman. The woman had already woken up from what Toji had done to her, but when she refused again, Toji did something to her again, and she soon beat the man to death.
This was repeated three times, Afro saw the man resurrect three times. The woman finally didn't need to be persuaded, she beat the man on her own.
This time, she wasn't under Toji's influence, so she was much more lenient and stopped before killing him, but this seemed to please Toji.
Toji patted the woman on the shoulder and said. -Very good, now you know how to defend yourself. If he tries anything again, you'll know what to do.
Leaving behind the injured but still alive man and the woman holding a pan, looking somewhere between excited and horrified, Toji and Afro walked away.
Afro couldn't understand, setting aside the resurrection snake's power, Afro didn't understand the most important thing. - Why not kill him?
Toji glanced briefly at Afro and replied. -The woman wouldn't be able to fend for herself, the man was the provider. If he disappears, she could end up in an even worse situation. I only taught her to defend herself. If she wants to leave, she can do it on her own. What happens to them now is their problem.
Afro glanced briefly at Toji, sensing that this guy's thinking was truly strange, he didn't know he would see even stranger things while walking with Toji.