A man Drowned in Hatred

"I’ve been reduced to this—I truly am nothing but trash!"

Shinji was about to kill the girl standing before him. He could feel the terrified gazes of the passersby, and it sickened him—yet he couldn’t stop now, not when he was so close to the end. He had to commit this heinous act.

He raised his eyes to look at his target one last time before carrying it out… and realized she was laughing.

A bright, innocent laugh—so familiar that it made him hesitate. Her arms were open, trembling, her eyes filled with tears despite her smile, as if she had accepted her fate.

"...Is that you, Aima? You’re the one she sent me to kill?"

The girl: "I was waiting for you, Shinji."

Fear gripped him; he could no longer keep his composure. His knife slipped between his sweat-drenched fingers.

"What’s wrong with me?"

In that laughter, he saw a glimmer of humanity—one he couldn’t ignore. He knew he shouldn’t, yet despite himself, he failed his mission.

He tried to regain his focus, but that single moment of doubt and hesitation sealed his fate.

"What—?"

No sooner had he heard the sound of a gunshot than he found himself on his knees, ribs shattered, blood gushing from his torn chest from the impact.

The bullet had passed through him in an instant—so fast he didn’t even notice until a second shot exploded through his throat, sending him crashing to the ground.

The shooter didn’t risk revealing their identity. Shinji could only laugh at the cruel irony of his fate.

He was about to die by the bullets of an assassin who had shown no hesitation, no weakness in carrying out their act—he would suffer the same brutal end he had intended for the girl, left with nothing but unanswered questions.

His muscles gave way, fiber by fiber; his body had betrayed him. Paralysis took hold, robbing him of the freedom to fight against this inevitable fate.

His frothing blood burned what little remained of him—the pain was so unbearable he wished for death to come swiftly.

"Kill me… end this… don’t leave me in this wretched state."

But as he opened his mouth to speak, he realized his vocal cords had failed—he no longer had the freedom to voice his final thoughts before death.

Blood narrowed his vision, now fixed on a silhouette—likely the vile person who had come to end him. They were laughing, but their laugh was sinister, inspiring deep terror.

"So… this is what they felt in their final moments?"

His body had been drained of blood to the point where its stench filled the entire alley.

"Huh… I can’t hear the screams of the bystanders anymore."

Even his hearing had abandoned him, refusing to grant him that last mercy.

"Is this really so surprising?"

He knew there was no hope left. He tried to think of nothing but his parents, whom he would soon reunite with in the afterlife.

His survival instinct faded as he finally accepted that he couldn’t change his fate. He devoted what little consciousness remained to finding peace in this tragic end.

"Mom… Dad…?"

All he wanted now was for this nightmare to end—to be with the ones he cherished more than his own life.

His consciousness was fleeting, sustained only by his grief-stricken soul.

With one last effort, he lifted his head to feel the raindrops.

Then, a blinding light in the sky robbed him of his sight. Yet within it, he saw someone—the one person he held an inhuman hatred for.

In these final moments, when all he sought was peace, she stripped him of the privilege to dictate his own emotions, filling him with indescribable rage.

He wished the fate that had befallen him had instead been destined for her.

As the light faded, Shinji’s mind began to drift, no longer able to distinguish reality from subconscious delusion.

He wondered if this was all just his mind playing tricks—if he was actually safe in his bed.

Yet even with that faint hope, as he stood at death’s door, he could only devote himself to an unspeakable hatred for that person.

"I knew I could never trust you!"

The emotions within him had grown so dark they could no longer be called human.

"Why?! After everything I’ve done—WHY?!"

Though he knew it was impossible, he tried to scream his disgust at the being of light—but no sound came out.

He kept struggling, attempting the impossible, desperate to do what he should have done long ago.

Though blind, he thought he saw a dark alley for a brief moment—likely just a hallucination from blood loss.

By then, Shinji and the secrets of the wretched life he had lived were no longer of this world.

All he wanted was to see his parents again, the ones who had left him alone in this world.

And though he couldn’t explain it… his hearing and sight began to return, little by little.

Shinji: "Mom… Dad… I’ll finally be with you again."

But when he opened his eyes, he realized his one wish would never be granted.

He was in total darkness—except for a single light, the very one that filled him with such hatred.

A voice echoed from it—a woman’s voice, laden with sorrow and disappointment so deep it seemed to tear through the horizon itself:

"Why?! After everything I forced myself to do… WHY?!"

The light began to swell uncontrollably in the darkness, its fury breaking the sound barrier—yet Shinji could still hear that voice, so full of grief.

"She warned me… I’m doomed to repeat this cycle, over and over!"

A moment of silence followed as Shinji absorbed the emotions around him—and then, he snapped.

He began laughing hysterically, now nothing more than a shadow of his former self.

"I don’t want to suffer anymore… I’ll trust you one last time, Shinji. Free me from these chains!"

Shinji: "I’ll hate you even in the afterlife!"