Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Sacrifice ❯ Can't Hurt Them ( Chapter 102 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

By: MellyN

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Sacrifice

Chapter 102: Can't Hurt Them

By: Melissa Norvell/Revamp

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Keiji, Hiroshima, and Tsurugi, who now donned a black eye patch as well as Fife, immersed themselves in the hot waters of a natural hot spring they found. The air was moist and full of condensation and the atmosphere really relaxed them after their last mission. Now that they had down time, they could talk among themselves, and Tsurugi could rest after his traumatic experience.

"So, what did you want to tell us about, Keiji-kun?" Fife glanced over to the green-haired boy.

Keiji then shifted his eyes to Hiroshima.

"What?" Did the kid want him to say something?

"I think you know," Keiji gave the angel a stern expression, as if to say that he knew exactly what Hiroshima was all about.

"I know about your secret," Fife noted. It appeared that he wasn't the only one who did, either.

"I guess I was a little too obvious," Tsurugi was a little disappointed in himself. It seemed they weren't as dumb as he thought they were.

"Dumbass," Hiroshima sneered. Now he had no choice but to tell them.

"If he's the only one to know, then it's not so bad," Tsurugi tried to lighten his own, personal blow. Just a few figuring it out wasn't as bad as everyone figuring it out, right?

"What are you? Some kind of god?" Keiji demanded to know the answer. He was tired of being shrouded in mystery by it all.

"Not exactly," Hiroshima was evasive, but he meant it. Calling him a god was a little too much for someone like him.

"He's a prince, like I am," Fife didn't really know what Hiroshima was the prince of, but it must have been important if he felt the need to hide it that much. He was a little curious as to what he was the prince of, exactly.

"That makes sense," Keiji looked thoughtful for a moment. Hiroshima was important. He just wanted to know how important. The angel had been hiding behind a façade all of this time, and it was about time he unveiled it.

"He didn't want to tell anyone, because it would mean that you treated him differently." If they had knowledge of the angel's royal bloodline, they would have felt the need to cater to him, or give him special treatment because of it. Tsurugi knew that Hiroshima didn't want that.

"It's kind of hard not to," Keiji didn't know what Hiroshima expected. Even without being royalty, they didn't exactly treat him like a normal person.

"I'm shocked that you'd care, considering our past. You should hate me for what I've done, just like everyone else in that miserable town," Hiroshima wasn't asking for sympathy from anyone, especially not that boy. Maybe their adventuring made Keiji tolerate him, but even then they wouldn't have formed the bond that they had unless it was genuine. The drummer wasn't the type to just make false friendships with people. However the question still remained…why?

"Normally, I would, but I kind of get the feeling that there's more to this story. Everyone here has changed a lot since we first started traveling together. I admit that I listened to that legend but there were things I saw about you back then that I can't ignore," Keiji had been suspicious since the Dark Bride incident. Throughout their journeys he had met many beings that were perceived as legendary- both good and bad, and nothing was ever as it seemed. It got him to wondering, what if Hiroshima has his own side to the story.

The angel had made many sacrifices in order to help them. That didn't seem like something a true, cold-blooded killer would have done. Either Hiroshima had changed since the events of the past, or there was something up with the entire incident. Keiji wanted to find out exactly what it was.

"Even though you were cruel and cold, you seemed like you were in a lot of pain and I don't mean physical pain. You've shown that same kind of pain all of this time. You have a tough love attitude and you're really opinionated. You don't care if anyone agrees with you, and you just do what you want," Hiroshima had his own agenda the whole time. Keiji was well-aware of that.

"I have goals, too kid. In this world, if you have dreams, then you suffer to achieve them. Nothing is gained without effort," Hiroshima had come too far to let something like this adventure stand in his way of his original purpose.

"Is that why you're working with Vespa? She helps you, doesn't she?" Keiji was suspicious. There had to be something more to their relationship. If she didn't help him, then what did she do? Hiroshima disliked her too much. If it was under any other set of circumstances, then they wouldn't be working together. The angel would have refused to do anything she asked him to. Keiji knew him better than that.

"We can't lie when you ask that kind of thing," Tsurugi felt a little pressured by the boy. If he asked the right questions, he was going to figure the both of them out before the mission was over. This was bad.

"What are you trying to accomplish?" Keiji wanted to know, and with answers like that, it made Tsurugi seem all the more shady.

"We simply want to change a few things that will happen in the future, and we want to stop Soel as much as you all do," of course, it was for different reasons, but if they weren't asking, Tsurugi wasn't telling.

"Is Soel trying to change the future?" Keiji wasn't sure of what they meant by that.

"She is," Hiroshima confirmed.

"Why do you need us, though? I don't understand that," they were just a bunch of humans…well, disregarding Fife. Keiji didn't see how their involvement made a difference when the angels were far more powerful.

"It involves all of you." Whether or not they knew it, everyone that was in their party was involved. Hiroshima wouldn't have needed them otherwise.

"You have to take an active part in changing your own future. If you don't, your fates will still be the same. We angels can only do so much," Tsurugi didn't want to see what he had, and even now, he was haunted by visions of what could be if they didn't accomplish their goals.

"If we stop Soel, it'll be even better," Hiroshima noted.

"Whose side are you two on?" Keiji wanted to know. They were a little shady in their own right. It wasn't as if he thought they would betray him, but there were instances that made him wonder.

"That's a good question," Fife commented. "You both seem so independent."

"We really work for ourselves. To say we're on a side kind of generalizes us, but for now, you could say that we're on your side." Tsurugi hoped that made sense. In all reality they were neutral and they liked it that way.

Keiji's visage hardened and his voice became direr. "Then you know about Chichiri, right?"

"What about him? Is he worse than we thought?" Fife was a little concerned. The last thing they needed was for the blonde to flip out more than he already was.

"He wants to leave," the darkness in Keiji's voice fell on them like a ton of bricks.

"What? He can't do that." If Chichiri left, then things would be bad. Tsurugi had to stop him, if no one else would.

"He can, if he wants," Hiroshima intoned, causing his blonde companion to whip his head around in shock.

"What?"

"People can determine their own fate. If Chichiri wants the fate that was predetermined for him, then he has the choice to take it. Sometimes, we can't fight against fate, no matter how hard we try," Hiroshima knew that to be true. There had been many times where he tried to cheat fate, only to have it come back at him full force. Even now, he felt himself losing to the sands of time and cruel grasp of fate.

"What will happen if he leaves?" Keiji wanted to know. He wasn't going to give up just yet, and think there was no way to save his friend.

"I can tell you what will happen under the circumstances I've predicted, but you can't tell him," Hiroshima would tell the boy in confidence that he could trust him. If Keiji broke that trust, he would be in for a world of hell.

"What? That isn't fair," Keiji felt unjustified even doing something like that. If something important or terrible was going to happen to his friend, then he had the right to know. Everyone had the right to know. Didn't Hiroshima care about him at all?

"Do you think we like that rule, either?" Tsurugi didn't think the boy knew how hard it was to with hold information like that. Angels did it all of the time and no one paid any mind to their feelings. Why were things so much more important when humans were involved?

"We can't say a lot of shit that we wished we could have," if Hiroshima could have done that, then the current events wouldn't be happening.

"What? Are you trying to show me how it feels or something?" Keiji didn't understand why they would give him information and tell him not to tell anyone.

"It's your choice. If you think that you can handle it," Tsurugi wasn't really making him do anything. It was his burden to bear if he chose to do so. It was an option and nothing more.

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In another spot in the same hot springs, Ko, Chichiri and Zangetsu all relaxed together. Ko and Zangetsu figured they would accompany Chichiri in case something happened. Hopefully, they could keep his psychosis in check and maybe they could talk him out of wanting to leave.

The steam of the hot springs was relaxing on their sore muscles, and the atmosphere was peaceful and calming, they were all things that they hoped would calm him down at least a little so they could figure out what was going on. They sat in silence together, staring at each other or bathing themselves.

"So, let's talk guys," Ko decided to speak up.

"About what?" Zangetsu asked.

"I'd really like to know how you both feel," Ko decided to get that out of the way. It was about time that she knew what was going on in their little game. Did they both love her? Was that part of why Chichiri was acting so strange? What was going on? Everything was a whirlwind of confusion to her, and she wanted answers.

"How can you not know? I told you how I felt when we were in Domina," Chichiri was pretty sure that he made his feelings crystal clear. Was Ko not paying any attention to him at all?

"I think that she's referring more to me," Zangetsu admitted, "I still hold my peace. The two of you should be happy together. Even if I had any feelings for you, Ko, it would be pointless to tell you if you love him back. I've already told you this before."

"I…" Ko trailed the word off as Zangetsu arose from the water.

The water slid off of his body with great fluidity. The only thing that was still soaked was his wing and hair. He made his way through the springs and wrapped a towel around him. Zangetsu began to walk out of sight. Ko got up and ran after him, stopping him a short distance from the shore.

"I don't want to hurt anyone," at this rate, she'd rather not tell either of them how she felt. It was far too painful.

"You are hurting someone-" Zangetsu cut himself off as he glanced towards the hot springs and made a startling discovery. "He's gone."

"What?" Ko glanced over his shoulder to the blank spot where Chichiri had once stayed.

"Where did he go?" The ninja's eyes quickly scanned the area, trying desperately to find any sign of the blonde.

Ko placed a hand to her forehead in dismay, "oh no, we should have been watching him." Great. Just great. They lost track of him again, and it had only been a few minutes that they turned their sights away.

Chichiri furiously packed whatever items he had and shoved them into a knapsack. He was tired of competing for Ko. He had loved her all of this time, and she still chose to walk after the ninja regardless of his feelings. He had figured that there might have been a point in staying if he could have her, but now that wasn't even worth it. She wasn't worth the pain he suffered, or the fact that Soel viciously assaulted him with the visions that plagued his sanity.

Chichiri was done. He was leaving and not coming back.

After shoving everything into his knapsack, he got up and walked towards the door. This was goodbye. This was going to be the last time he saw this place and the people in it. It was better that no one saw him leave, that way no one tried to stop him.

Uncertainly and insanity was painted on his face. His eyes were widened and his pupils shrunk to the size of pin pricks. He felt a sense of paranoia sink its teeth into him, causing his adrenaline to flow and his heart to race. "I've got to get out of here! I can't do this anymore! I can't!" He shouted those words in a desperate tone.

Ko walked up to the doorway before he could get out, she put on clothes before she came back to the place they were staying. "What are you doing, Chichiri?" She automatically recognized that look on his face, and a part of her was terrified of his answer.

"Out of my way, Ko! I'm leaving! I can't do this anymore!" Chichiri shouted in a depraved manner.

"Chichiri…why?" Ko's features saddened. She didn't want him to leave. Ko was going to try and stop him, no matter what the cost.

"I don't want to do this anymore," Chichiri looked at her with widened eyes and a crazed look of fear on his face. "Everyone's just going to die. I won't watch it. I'm not going to watch that. If you want to commit suicide, then you go ahead and do it. I can't even depend on you, Ko. I told you that I loved you and you can't even come through for me. There's no use staying here. I have nothing to stay for." There was no hope for them. This mission was going nowhere, and they were just going to dig their own grave. She was stupid for not seeing that, and even she had backstabbed him. Chichiri lost all sense of hope for anything that involved that group of people. It was time to leave and nothing was there to stop him now.

"But, Chichiri," Ko felt the confliction well up inside of her. A sense of urgency washed over her being. 'I do love you, but I don't want to hurt Zangetsu.' She couldn't let Chichiri leave, but that one, blaring thing hung over her. It loomed like an ominous shadow.

"But what?" Chichiri countered. "You're so damned worried about Zangetsu, then you go and be with him." He was tired of her indecisiveness. He was sick of watching the two of them, and over time he began to hate it.

"That's not it," Ko retorted.

"Then what is it?" He was tired of playing her games.

"Zangetsu's my friend-" She was cut off.

"If you loved me, then you'd pick me. You haven't, so now you'll miss me. I'm not going to stay here." Even if she had said that she loved him right there, it wasn't going to change things. Chichiri made up his mind. He was doing what was best for him.

Zangetsu walked up behind her, clad in his ninja getup with a businesslike look on his face. "I can't believe you'd just abandon us like this? What did Soel do to you?" Even if Chichiri left, he was going to get the answer before he walked out of that door.

"I'm not staying here. You call can die at the end of this mission but I won't. Soel just showed me the truth. You should come with me, Ko. Abandon everything and live a peaceful life. If you love me, choose me now." It was the last change she was going to have. It was either him or them, and her choice would alter everything from that point onward.

"That's an unfair proposition," Zangetsu countered. Why would he force her to make a decision like that? Why would he ask her to just dump all of her friends for him if she really loved him? He could only imagine the amount of pressure on her shoulders.

"Let him go," Hiroshima's deep voice carried as he stepped into view behind Chichiri.

"What?" Ko couldn't believe that the angel was just going to let him walk away and not help him at all.

"I might not be the best person to know about love, but if you love someone you do what's best for everyone, not just one person. It's selfish to make someone choose, and if you leave then you make your consequences the same as they were before." If Chichiri wanted to leave so bad, who was he to stand in his way? Hiroshima couldn't keep someone there against their will.

"What? What do you mean?" Ko could hardly believe her ears. Did he really not care?

"I'm trying to change the future, but if you leave then you're going to destroy your chances of having something better," Hiroshima wanted Chichiri to fully understand what he was throwing away by going on his own. He knew that even though the youth's mind had been altered, he might still be able to make him realize that what he was doing was really stupid. He hoped that Chichiri would change his mind.

"So, that's why we're traveling with you." It all made sense to Ko now.

"The 'new' future could be worse than what I have now," Chichiri argued his point. There was no way that the angel was going to shower him with flowery words. He knew damned well what he was in store for everyone. In his own mind, he was escaping a dark world that awaited him, and wanted nothing to do with the angel's fucked up plans.

"It could be," Hiroshima wasn't about to rule that possibility out. He knew the risks. "It depends on what you want to accept. The future could be better or it could be worse. It can also be exactly the same. Some things can't be changed, and some can. Fate changes on a dime, even an angel's prediction can be wrong." Nothing was one-hundred-percent accurate, but if it was even a little better than what he predicted, it was better than nothing.

"Does that mean that if we hadn't traveled with you, then something bad would have happened to each of us?" Zangetsu knew there was a reason they were together, and even if saying it was fated to be was a little cliché; it seemed to be true in this sense.

Hiroshima closed his eyes with a conflicted expression. "I can't say, because that's a factor that has yet to be determined.

"I guess that brings back the saying 'I could get hit by a bus tomorrow. You never know when it's your time to go.'" Now that she thought about it, fate was a very fickle thing that could change in an instant. Ko was doing good to get as far as she had, considering the close calls she had.

"I'm not begging you to stay. Do what you want, but I feel like I should make one of my points known." In a way, it was Hiroshima's way of wanting him to stay, but who was to say that he wasn't still fixated on leaving. Soel's grip on him was strong.

"I don't like putting my life in other people's hands," Chichiri would have rather taken control of himself and this was a good place to start.

"We all have done that before. I think everyone has saved everyone here," To Ko, it was just part of being in their group. She had been saved numerous times. She had put her life in other's hands many times, and because of that she was alive today.

"You'll all be murdered! You'll see!" Chichiri felt ganged up on by all of them. Why were they trying to keep him around just to kill him? He was tired of this farce.

"You're delusional," Hiroshima tried to make him see how badly his mind deteriorated.

"You're the one deceiving everyone!" Chichiri whirled around with a maddening look in his eyes and pointed at the angel.

"I prefer the term 'disclosing' information. I'm not acting like a raging psychopath." Surely Chichiri was aware of how paranoid he had become. The guy was practically foaming at the mouth to get away from all of them.

"I can't believe this," Ko was visibly stressed out. How did things get this bad?

"Even after all of that, you still want to leave?" Zangetsu had a hard time believing everything that was happening. Was this truly what Chichiri had been reduced to? 'I wonder what exactly Soel did to you.'

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The skies were verging on darkness, a brilliant purple as the stars faintly glimmered. Tsurugi walked through the town as its residents were either going to bed, or coming out for night time activities. It was a weird, transitional time where not many people were active or around. Every once in a while, the one-eyed angel saw someone passing him by, but that was it. A few of the porch lights flickered on, their orange light glowing softly against the darkening sky. He carried a jar in his hands containing his eye. The organ floated around in a solution that kept it from drying out.

The angel stared into the jar with a visage of nostalgia. 'Lamagra…' His thoughts assaulted him as he recalled that moment. The sensation of blood surging through his socket with such force that it popped his eye out of its socket. The pain of the event still shot through his body, pulsating around his wound and giving him a slight headache. He would heal himself later if it got too bothersome. 'Luckily, this doesn't lower my perception any. I haven't tried to fly yet. I think I'll try it out.'

He flapped his wings, slowly lifting himself up off of the ground and into the air. As he tried to fly, his stability was off and he wobbled from side-to-side for a while before he was able to get his bearings. Trying to fly with one eye was a little hard, but he would have to learn to get used to it. Eventually, he was able to fly with ease and glided through the sky. The feeling of the fresh, night air felt good against his skin and smelled wonderful to his senses.

He closed his eye as the wind toyed with his hair. 'The wind feels so good. I wonder if everyone convinced Chichiri to stay yet. I have a feeling it won't be easy. We may lose him, and if that's the case..' he frowned, 'I don't even want to think about it.'

"Huh?" He blinked as he laid sights on something down below.

Down below, a white van drove up in a secluded alleyway and two men hopped out. They were both carrying what looked like another person by the head and feet and tossed them out on the ground, then hopped back in the van and drove off. The person laid there on top of a mound of trash, unmoving.

"What's that?" He wondered aloud as he hovered around, waiting for the person to move, but nothing ever happened. Whoever it was, they appeared to be dead.

Upon further inspection, the angel noticed that it appeared to be a girl. He flew down at a lower elevation and examined her. She looked young, like a pre-teen girl. Her body was petite, with small breasts and a thin frame. She had green hair that was cut short to the base of her neck, and in front she had poofy, shaggy bangs with two long, mid-bicep length tendrils of hair. Her skin was pale, almost a milky white.

"It's a girl. What happened to her? She's completely naked. Was she raped? Beaten? Strangled? No…" A million thoughts ran through Tsurugi's head. Did he just witness the end product of a murder? Was this girl dead?

Landing, he ran over to her, and when he came up to the body he noticed something peculiar. "She's not even human."

What was going on?

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When Tsurugi came back to their place of residence, he didn't even have to ask about Chichiri's whereabouts. He could already tell by the looks on their faces that Chichiri's decision had already been made. Everyone was silent, and Ko looked especially sad over everything that had happened.

"I guess things didn't work out so well, did they?" Tsurugi's voice cut through the silence. He spoke lowly, as if he didn't want to startle anyone.

"He's gone," Fife noted.

"I had a feeling that he might permanently leave." As much as the angel wanted to think he would listen to reason, Tsurugi knew in the back of his mind that he was already too far gone. It was unfortunate and he felt a sense of sorrow wash over him. It was hard to believe that the once goofy and light-hearted blonde was gone. Tsurugi would miss him.

"It's not fair," Ko's trembling voice intoned, on the verge of sobbing. "Why would you say that you love someone and then leave?" She wanted to cry, more than she had already. Ko wanted to break down and lose her grip on reality. Never had she felt so crushed in her life, so conflicted, and at blame. If she would have said yes, Chichiri wouldn't have stayed. She would have gone with him, but at what cost? She would have just felt guilty over leaving her team mates behind to deal with what was going on.

"That's like asking why you'd say that you loved someone and then go and die? Shit happens, not saying it's a good or a bad thing." Life was life, and it had strange ways of working. Hiroshima knew that to be true.

"What's going to happen to Chichiri, now that he's gone?" Fife wondered aloud. He was curious why it was such a bad thing if anyone left the group before the mission was over. There was something up with that.

"I'm not allowed to say," Hiroshima closed his eyes. He wanted to tell them, but he would suffer the consequences if he did.

"Your expression says it all. It's something bad, isn't it?" Keiji wasn't stupid. The fact that Hiroshima looked guilty and conflicted was all he needed to know.

"Unless he can change it himself, yes," he admitted. Hiroshima tried to save him, but Chichiri stood strong against his reasoning.

"I wonder how Vespa will take this," Zangetsu didn't think that she'd take too kindly to someone leaving like that.

"Who knows?" Hiroshima could care less about her opinion on this right now.

"I can't believe he did that. I feel so backstabbed." They were supposed to be in this together. Keiji felt like he just got left like a pile of trash on the side of the road. They were supposed to be friends, but even in the end that wasn't enough to keep him around. Chichiri just wanted Ko, her and no one else. Did he really mean nothing to him?

"It was Soel who did that to him, and made him that way. I tried to find him, but he was long gone when we found out that he bailed on us," Fife arrived to the scene later, and by the time he got there Ko had come back, saying she lost sight of him when she tried to run after him.

"Well, in all irony, I did find this girl," Tsurugi gestured to the green-haired girl who lifted up his wing and walked into the room, bidding them all hello. It really was strange that the day Chichiri left, they would find someone new to tag along with them.

"Nice to meet you!" She bowed politely and spoke in a young, vibrant voice.

"Who is she?" Ko asked.

"My name is Temari," the girl introduced herself.

"Where did you find her?" Fife was a little curious as to why he brought her back where they all were.

"And why are you dragging her in here. If you had any sense, you would have left her in the village where she belonged." Was Tsurugi stupid or something? Did a piece of his brain come out with that eye? Hiroshima couldn't believe he was putting that innocent girl into the myriad of shit they were going through.

"I can't do that," the blonde angel shook his head. "She was abandon and tossed out of the back of a van. Who knows what would have happened to her if I hadn't have found her." Tsurugi didn't want to begin to think of the options.

"Her eyes are two different colors," Ko pointed out the fact that one of her eyes was a dark green, just like her hair and the other was a light, sky blue.

"She isn't human," Tsurugi educated everyone on that fact.

"Then what is she?" Zangetsu was curious. Was she some kind of robot? Or was she a mythical creature of some sort?

"I believe that she's an android called a SYNTACOM. They're synthetic humans who do whatever their masters desire. There are many different types of Syntacoms and they usually have an identification number on them, but she doesn't." It was very peculiar to him, when he thought about it. Tsurugi knew a great deal about the Syntacoms, and Temari seemed to defy a lot of the detail he knew to be true. He wondered if she was some kind of experimental model.

Ko's face lit up at being fed that knowledge. "I've heard of those! They were developed by a scientist who called himself Professor Gaiga."

"Yes, there was a legend about the first Syntacom he ever built, the EROS-07. The rumor was that it went berserk and nearly killed him. It was the deadliest Syntacom ever made, but it's been deactivated since then," Zangetsu spoke of what he knew regarding the Syntacoms. They were fascinating pieces of machinery that were like humans in nearly every way imaginable. Even looking at the girl right now, he couldn't tell that she wasn't human.

"She doesn't know who her master is," Tsurugi told them. He was pretty sure that her memories of that person her long-since been erased upon her disposal. Whoever threw her out must have thought that she was trash or perhaps they replaced her with a newer model.

Temari looked sad at that fact and tilted her head down. "I want to find my master, and ask them why they threw me away. I'm in full functional order and I don't have any malfunctions or defects. I just want to know why."

Zangetsu felt a little sorry for her. She must have felt alone and unwanted. "I don't see why we can't take her in. Our group is really small now."

"It would be nice to have another girl around," Ko spoke up, then frowned and closed her eyes. "Since Azmy is gone now…"

"Just don't get in our way," Hiroshima knew that even if he protested, they would still accept this girl.

"I won't," Temari smiled brightly at the group of people, "thank you so much, Mr. Angel!"

Today was the start of a new future for her. She would happily serve her new masters to the utmost extent.

"The name's Hiroshima," he introduced himself.

"I'm Fife," the vampire put a hand to his chest and smiled at her.

"Keiji, nice to meet you," Keiji offered the robot a small smile.

"They call me Ko," the white-haired ninja gestured to herself.

"I'm Zangetsu," the ninja nodded, and then his attention was distracted as the room began to glow in a brilliant orange. Fire materialized in the middle of the floor and blazed up towards the ceiling, swirling around in a small storm.

Temari gasped at the sight. She'd never seen anything like that before. What was going on?

"What's happening?" She asked, a little frightened by what was happening.

"It's Vespa," Ko announced the witches' arrival.

Out of the flames, emerged the Red witch. She stepped onto the floor and looked around at the group, whose eyes were all locked on her. Red eyes scanned over everyone and fell upon the little robot girl, who stared at her with round, innocent eyes. "Greetings everyone, I have another mission for you."

"Miss Vespa, we lost a team member," Zangetsu figured that he might as well tell her the news they had before she told them their next move. She needed to be informed.

"What?" Vespa was a little shocked at that.

Zangetsu's voice lowered as he delivered the bad news. "I'm sad to report that Chichiri is gone."

…To Be Continued