Liar, Liar - Volume 6 - Chapter Pr

Prologue

The Beginning of the End

This was back when I was still weak.

Nearly two years ago, I had someone I was close enough with that I’d call them my best friend. We were always together, every day was so much fun, and I didn’t think I could ever be happier.

One day, though, all those feelings were suddenly betrayed. We didn’t gradually drift away from each other or fall out of contact without realizing it—my friend walked right up to my face and said, “Don’t speak to me again,” “I’ve never once enjoyed being with you,” “I just put up with you because I was lonely without friends,” “I have lots of close friends now, so I don’t need you suffocating me any longer,” and… Well, a lot more things, too, I think, but I guess some kind of self-defense mechanism kicked in and blocked me from remembering anything else. But anyway, to sum it all up, I was far too serious all the time, and my friend had grown sick of it. It was something that had been simmering for a long time, but now she’d reached her limit.

I didn’t think anything about that was particularly unusual, though. Everyone has people they get along with and people they don’t; change is an inevitable part of any personal relationship, really. But…even knowing that, I still couldn’t stop the feelings welling up inside me. I mean, she’d been in all my memories since middle school. Everything, from the photo folder on my device to the recollections in my own mind, had included her. She’d always been smiling and laughing with me… But if that smile was a lie, then what were my memories? Had every moment I’d felt joy and happiness actually been painful for her?

Just thinking about it made my heart feel like it would explode. I spent a long time not able to recover, closing myself off to the world.

But then…

“Hello. We are   The defenders of justice.”

They saved me.

A justice-driven group that never stood for lies, deception, or any other villainous deeds. They were heroes to me. Every time they defeated another evil, I felt emboldened. It felt like I was being recognized and saved by this dazzling light… And it wasn’t long before I began to feel something close to worship, wondering what I could do to be more like them.

I definitely have them to thank for saving me. Without them, I still wouldn’t have gotten better, even now. They help the weak and stand up against the powerful. They really are defenders of justice.

Or at least…that was the fantasy I clung to for so long.