My Measurement: The Villain Desires a Satisfying Payback

Saburou Fushigimi knew there would be no chance to repair their broken family.

Once he was taken away to the Playground at an early age due to his powerful Measurement, the opportunities the rest of the family had to visit him were few and far between.

His parents were also aware that the relationship between their son and his other two siblings was unordinary, and could never be ordinary.

That's why they hid his existence.

To save the kids from the seed of internal conflict and heartache that had been sowed before it had the chance to sprout.

One day, however, contrary to their wishes, the secret had slipped; somehow, a young Atsuko had stumbled upon the truth and discovered the existence of a second brother.

After that, there was only one member of the family left clueless about it all.

They contemplated telling him about it, but they had already considered it the best thing for as few people to know as possible, and wouldn't informing him about his long-lost brother all of a sudden result in nothing but discourse?

Awkwardness, distrust; perhaps even resentment.

Not knowing what the best path to take would be to maintain the peace of their family, they postponed it indefinitely.

After all, even if it wasn't perfect, things were fine the way they were, right?

However...

At one point, did they exceed the threshold?

Did too long pass for them to explain the situation without the opportunity for full restoration?

They had already hidden the secret for so long that revealing it now would make them look bad.

Wouldn't it feel bad to be told after so many years that a big secret had been known to everyone in the family but you?

For a still-young Tarou, it would only cause distress and conflicting emotions to flood.

We don't want to be the source of our son's unhappiness.

Plus, it's not like there is a need for him to know in the first place.

While knowing could bring pain, not knowing changes nothing.

So, let's wait a little longer.

In the future, I'm sure we'll tell him.

Definitely.

Of course, he deserves to know the truth.

He does.

Just, not now.

And thus it was justified.

'Tarou.'

'Hm?'

'If... One day, it turned out we had a brother... Do you think we would all get along?"

'Huh...? Where'd that come from?'

'It's just a thought. Answer me.'

'...I mean, it's crazy, isn't it? That we would have another brother whose existence we don't even know about is ridiculous, but...'

'I guess, there's no reason for us to not get along, right?'

"――You bastard--!"

Thud-!

"Kughk-!"

As if to spit in the face of the words of a hopeful Atsuko Fushigimi all those years ago.

"Looking at me like that, what is it...!?"

Thud-!

Two identical brothers.

"Pity...?! What makes you think you can pity me!"

Thud-!

Towering over the other, one mercilessly struck him in a successive barrage of earnest punches, weaving heartfelt cries in between as he lay bare his internal adversities.

"You have no right to feel pity...!"

No right.

Was there such a thing?

Such a thing as a right to feel a particular emotion.

Even if it was a subconscious feeling, what could they do if they held no right to feel it? Was a feeling of the heart something so simple to discard?

If it was genuine, maybe not.

"..."

As for Saburou, who endured the beating courageously, what was the origin of his pity?

Pity for a boy who was lied to by his family since birth?

Pity for his brother, who had lost an arm to his own incompetence?

It wasn't clear what the answer was, even to himself.

That was why he couldn't dismiss the accusation that he didn't hold the right to pity.

Guilt.

Sorrow.

Frustration.

Even if he was forbidden from pitying the one in front of him, there were a multitude of other emotions he could focus on that were equally as valid within his heart as the former.

'Things wouldn't be like this if I was so adamant about keeping my identity a secret...'

If he couldn't pity, he would self-reproach.

'If I didn't act that way, could we have had a normal family...?'

If he couldn't pity, he would mourn.

'There must have been a way for this to be avoided...'

And if he couldn't pity, he would criticise.

There were any number of emotions and feelings with which he could replace pity.

But, even then.

"Haha-- Cough...!"

Saburou chuckled.

His eyes didn't glance once at the bruised fist that had been repeatedly pummelling his face until now, but rather gazed into the eyes of its owner.

"What are you laughing at..."

Ignoring the utterance, Saburou raised the corners of his mouth and continued.

"My, little brother... You've sure become quite the audacious one, haven't you...? Telling your own blood what they can and cannot feel... Isn't it ridiculous?"

There was no special meaning behind what he said.

He knew his words were meaningless. He knew they made no sense.

It was just that, simply put...

"Have you had enough? Do you think you won against me just because I let you get some hits in, you little bugger?"

Obscured behind all those negative emotions, perhaps a hint of something more lay there.

A hint of hope.

"!"

Crash-!

Having said all he had to offer, Saburou pushed back and reversed the two's positions.

Something that hadn't happened in a very long time had occurred.

He didn't know why.

"Heh. See, who's on top now?"

But, for some reason, a smug grin had formed on Saburou's lips.

Perhaps it was a concussion from having his head knocked around so much.

He was feeling uncharacteristically childish at the moment.

"What'll you do, huh? Little bro."

"..."

Before the opponent could react, Saburou wrapped his arms around the other's neck and squeezed his muscles tightly.

"...!"

Saburou had never choked someone out before, but as a trained combatant of the Wardens, he had naturally been taught the proper techniques to do so.

Of course, Tarou wasn't going to sit still.

"Ngh...!"

Gritting his teeth, he tried to pry away one of the arms locked around his throat.

It was tough.

Unexpectedly, Saburou was strong.

As someone working under a High-Level Out of Control Measurement Threat Subjugation Unit for the Wardens, it was obvious he would have undergone a minimum level of physical training.

Tears slowly began to creep through the ducts in the corners of Tarou's eyes.

His face gradually adopted a slight pale hue as the effects of restricted blood flow began to catch up.

His vision flickered in and out of reality as darkness consumed his peripherals.

His struggling meant nothing when he didn't know the proper procedure to escape a headlock situation where his carotid arteries were being blocked.

With a last-ditch effort, he forced all his energy into his left arm.

"Gah...!"

Just barely, the artificial strength provided by the prosthetic limb bestowed by Oscar was enough to save him, knocking Saburou back a short distance as Tarou flung his head backwards.

Still, things were nowhere close to over.

Both raised from the ground and charged at each other without hesitation.

On Saburou's face, a mischievous expression was present; on Tarou's, one of raging solemnity.

"Gh...! Who ever said I was the younger one!"

Slam-!

The two clashed like rushing boars, toppling each other and crashing to the grassy sward below.

"Isn't it obvious? Someone lied to by everyone else in the family; made to feel like an outcast and who ran away after confronting his brother―What older sibling could play a role like yours so well! An insolent, angry little brother!"

Rolling around in the dirt, the two grabbed the other's clothes and pushed and pulled with all their strength.

The result was both parties' clothes becoming quickly soiled and tarnished.

"Ng, seriously...! What made a rascal like you pick an inexplicable punk like that to hang around, huh!?"

Wrestling on the ground, the two held a peculiar conversation of sorts.

"What, Oscar? Hah, sure, he's mysterious. But, so what? It's none of my business what all his secrets are, and besides, he's helped me out a ton; I wouldn't even be here right now if not for him!"

Saburou spat.

"So, I guess I know who to thank when all this is over, huh?! Cheeky brat! Did your sister never even tell you what the reason was for befriending him?! No, do you even consider her as your family in the first place? I know you were involved with her abduction!"

"So what!? It's not like she got hurt at all, anyways, so what's the big deal if I get some of my own back?! And no, she told me nothing; because none of you ever told me anything from the very beginning!"

"This little...! Looks like I'll have to discipline you more than I thought, huh!?"

With those words, Saburou pulled Tarou's torso up by the collar and raised his hand to slap him.

But then―

Vho~o~o~o~hm~~!!

"!!"

―The ground had turned to ice. Hardening and freezing over within an instant, Saburou lost his footing and slipped.

Thud-!

Slamming down onto the compact permafrost that used to be soft grass was painful for his backside, and the winter atmosphere only exacerbated the chilly feeling that spread through the area with a sharp breeze like it was waiting.

"Ngh..."

With a grunt, Saburou carefully rubbed the spot he had landed on to make sure everything was fine. Then, raising his head, he noticed all too late what was approaching him at blistering speeds.

"!?"

Slam-!

Without the slightest chance to react or resist, Tarou had come at him with full force and launched a powerful jab right to the jaw.

"...???"

Saburou, disoriented from the blow, only saw his world spin, and Tarou didn't let slip his gained lead.

Hit after hit after hit followed, stealing just that much more of Saburou's dwindling consciousness with each successive hit.

"..."

The back of his head slamming against the cold ground as Tarou straddled him from above and rained down fists of surefire victory, Saburou was certain to have sustained several potentially lethal concussions.

'...No...'

Even still, his mind was barely hanging on.

'I... can't...'

By but a thread, he retained his sanity.

His vision had all but flickered off like the lightbulbs in a power shortage, and all he felt for a while was the continuous streaks of pain that afflicted both the interior and exterior of his head and the sensation of running blood exiting from multiple orifices.

'What...'

It got to a point.

'What's happening...?'

Eventually, it got to a point where he had forgotten the situation until now.

What was he doing?

What was going on?

Why couldn't he see?

Why did he hurt?

Who was hurting him?

Why would they not stop?

He didn't know if his eyes were simply refusing to open or if something else had occurred, but no light would enter his retinas, and only the ceaseless ringing of tinnitus and the beating sound of his own heart could be heard.

'...Stop.'

Perhaps understandably so, he couldn't take it any more.

He didn't know what was going on, but he wanted it to end.

And, of course, for Saburou, there was only one surefire way to make the unknown assailant stop assaulting him in the midst of this confusion.

There was only one thing he could do.

And perhaps.

Perhaps, as the one known as the Concept of Space, it was a solution that came as natural as breathing.

Without a second thought in the matter, Saburou stretched his arm up and into the sky.

And he swiftly brought it down.

"..."

The assault had stopped, but his senses were still all in a state of disorientation.

Gradually, he managed to open his eyes.

"...!!"

What was immediately reflected in those eyes... It could only be described as a horrific accident.

"K-... A..."

Tarou, now unable to get out a proper word, could only splutter a bucket's worth of blood.

Realising what he had done, Saburou's eyes twitched as he stammered.

"W-w-wait, no... I-I-I didn't mean..."

There was no way for him to know about the healing capabilities of Selina's Measurement of Life, but even if he were to be aware, he would be certain.

Tarou...

Undoubtedly, he would die today.