Chapter Text
A vague memory, from a past he couldn't properly remember. He saw a faint memory of two people with him. Ayumu and a person he couldn't quite remember.
He couldn't properly make up who that person was. His face, his hair color, the color of his eyes. He couldn't make up what he was seeing. But oddly enough, despite the vague memory he felt comfort from it.
“Hiroki..! Let's go to the beach together!”
Despite hearing his words he couldn't comprehend what his voice sounds like. He could only remember running together with a figure, a figure that had their face covered in light.
As he continues to dream of that memory, he was woken up by a hard object slammed. He clutched his stomach because of the sudden blow on his stomach. He looked up and saw his mother, holding a metal rod, looking at him with pure disgust and hatred
“wake up you filthy brat, how dare you oversleep. Who do you think you are? You have an exam today but you dare to oversleep?!?!”
She hit him once more On the stomach, overwhelming pain surge on his stomach once more. But despite the harsh treatment Hiroki did not fight back, no. He felt like he deserved it.
Hiroki had already been manipulated, tricked, and groomed that what she did to him was just punishment, punishment for being alive. Because of her constant assault and manipulation, and the lack of knowledge towards what being loved is actually is, he was easily groomed into believing it was all normal.
“I… I'm sorry mom…”
He said with a weak voice, even a whisper was louder. Tears falls from his light blue eyes, as he slowly got up to head to school. Limping as he walked up the stairway, crying throughout the journey.
He holds his chest in pain, as he went up to live another day of constant suffering.
*
*
*
Everyone from the baseball club went out of the chicken shop. There stands two people, facing one another to access their combat Prowess. One was the ace player of the baseball club of beom high, not only the best player, but also amongst the top 5 strongest from the school.
And at the other side brings the mysterious figure, Faust. Who singlehandedly defeated 3 executives and defeated 20 people in a short amount of time.
Both were face to face for a duel, seeing whether to follow towards Faust's plans or walk away from the opportunity. After all, who would risk their lives because of some grocery bag masked maniac.
“Hope you ready yourself. I won't hold back so don't blame me if you start crying or something.”
[Izayoi Hikaru]
ace player of the beom high baseball club
[STRENGTH:C(2/10)]
[SPEED:C-(0/10)]
[DEFENSE:D+(5/10]
[POTENTIAL:B]
Hikaru was holding a bat, which made Hiroki think he was in a unfair disadvantaged, he looked around and found a metal pipe laying down the floor for some reason.
“Don't overglaze yourself, you don't want to be humiliated by your peers to much”
[Hiroki Mori/Faust]
Blonde bastard.
[STRENGTH:E+(0/10)
[SPEED:D-(2/10)
[DEFENSE:C(2/10)
[POTENTIAL:???]
Even with what he said he still had many doubts about his current ordeal. The stats gap was a bigger difference than before.
‘Shit… should I just let him damage me as much as possible? That's the only way I could think of winning…’
He was preparing to do the same thing he had done to Utsu, but unlike Utsu Hikaru already knew about ‘that’ ability.
*
*
*
(6 hours before meeting
“Huh? He suddenly got stronger when he got hurt? Are you being serious?”
“I'm serious!!! At first Faust couldn't even catch him properly. But Faust suddenly stopped loving and let Utsu attacked him relentlessly. And in a period of time he suddenly became stronger than before and easily defeated him!”
Hikaru held his phone tighter hearings this. He was still in his room, listening to his juniors glaze towards him
‘He gets stronger the more in pain he is huh? That's something…’
*
*
*
Back to the present, Hiroki was on his guard, waiting for Hikaru to strike. But Hikaru hesitated and told himself not to attack recklessly.
‘If the whole the more in pain the stronger he gets thing was real, then if I drag this fight for too long I'll be at a disadvantage. The only way I could do this is by…’
Hikaru's hands starts moving which, winding his bat to his back. Hiroki raised his fist to guard his body, expecting him to hit him on his lower body, but the aim for the bat was somewhere he didn't expect.
It was aiming towards his head, Hiroki quickly moved to the left to Dodge his bat, he barely managed to Dodge his attacks, and the bat managed to injure Faust's cheeks.
‘What the..?! He was aiming at my head!’ Hiroki was surprised. He had expected for him to aim on his lower body first, but instead he was aiming for the head. Hiroki, with that hit he'd surely pass out.
Hikatu launched another attack, Targetting Hiroki's head once more, Hiroki's senses was quick, Hiroki blocked the attack with his hands. The strength from the swing was strong enough to push Hiroki 10 feet back.
‘This man, he's targeting my head on purpose’ Hiroki had now just realized his plans. The plan if just standing still was no longer available, if he did that he would have lost.
“Is that all you got, faust?”
Hikaru ran towards Hiroki again, Hiroki was surprised by his speed, he knew he was athletic but he didn't expect him to be this fast.
As the bat swung to his head once more Hiroki managed to barely Dodge the attack by ducking, as he duck he twisted his body and spun 160° before throwing a kick towards his stomach. But it was all in vain as Hikaru managed to block his kick with his knees.
“...”
He grabbed Hiroki's legs and threw him up in the air, Hiroki was stunned upon being lifted so easily. As he was in the air Hikaru threw a devastating punch on Hiroki's stomach while he was off guard.
The pain was overwhelming, the punch launched him 15 feet away, dripping his weapon, and the shockwave from the punch blew away the dust from that area.
Hiroki collapse on the floor, gasping for air. Hiroki struggled to stand up. Despite the pain he stood up, preparing to fight against. But Hikaru looked at him with frustration, which confused Hiroki.
“... You…”
Hikaru’s face darkened. He ran towards Hiroki again, as he got closer he leaped up in the air, lifted his bat, and dragged his bat downwards to hit Hiroki at full force.
Hiroki barely managed to Dodge the attack. As Hikaru dropped and his bat hits the concrete floor a massive crack starts tomorrow form. The side of the crack was 5 feet big and 6 feet wide. The floor shattering to pieces.
Hiroki was shocked by the overwhelming damage capacity of Hikaru's strength, but this was his opportunity to land another attack. Hiroki quickly attacked him with another kick, successfully landing a hit on Hikaru's chest.
“I knew it.”
He quickly grabbed Hiroki's legs and pulled him downward, he dropped his bat and punched Hiroki in the face as hard as he can. The strength of his punch was insane, if it were any other normal human they would have been dead by now.
Hiroki was about to be launched again but have Hikaru's hands was still holding Hiroki tightly which stopped the movement. Hiroki's consciousness was slowly fading as he dropped to the floor.
Hikaru got up, and looked at the fallen Hiroki. Filled with both malice and questions.
“You… you're holding back your strength, aren't you?”
“!!!”
The onlookers was surprised. They hadn't expect for Hikaru to say that. They whispered amongst one another about the current situation.
“Holding back..? Was he actually holding back?!”
“But why would he hold back during this fight??? It's so unnecessary…”
“As expected of Faust! He was holding back because he didn't want to hurt our senior!”
They were whispering to one another about there theories, but none of them were right at all.
“Well, in other words you were ‘unconsciously’ holding back We'rent you… I felt it during Your attacks, all of them felt half hearted. And it feels different from someone who is purposely holding back. You are either being a dumbass, or you're in the state of ‘mental Lock’”
[Mental lock]
This is a state where a person had been locked away from using his full strength because of his emotions. Either from fear, sadness, shock and much more other emotions. In this state they are unable to use their full strength, holding them back from unleashing their true prowess.
Hikaru looked at him, his emotions were hard to read. He looked at Hiroki with his crimson red eyes for a few seconds before asking a question.
“What's with you in this state, what could you have possibly gone through to hold back this much? Did you accidentally kill someone or something?”
He asked, but Hiroki couldn't answer, no. It wasn't because he couldn't answer, but because Hiroki didn't want to.
Does words slowly awakened another memory he had kept locked away, the memory of an accident that caused him to be stained with blood…
*
*
*
4 years ago. It was a big event, the karate Tournament. Where the accident occurred. Hiroki was among the finalists for the event, even with people above his age they were no match against him. He was a true prodigy in combat, he continued to climb higher and higher till he finally reached the final showdown.
It was a match with someone his age, he had dark hair with crimson red eyes, their height and weight were almost identical to his. Both of them dominated everyone in the tournament with ease, both of them were extremely strong.
Hiroki greeted him with a warm smile, and bowed down to show some respect.
“Hope we have a great match!”
Hiroki said with a smile. But his opponent didn't respond and turned his back away from Hiroki.
‘... Harsh much…’
After a short time the final fight was about to start. The cheers of many can be heard. Both parties faced each other in the ring.
Satoshi Tajiri, age 13 years old. trained karate for 5 years.
And Hiroki Mori, age 13. Trained Karate for 4 years.
Both opponents looked at one another, the same age, the same height, and the same battles, a battle on who would make it to the top. After a short while the fight finally began.
Both opponents were talented for their age, but one was more talented than the other, as Hiroki was overwhelmed by the clear difference between their skills.
Hiroki stood no chance at all, Satoshi’s form was absolute. Their strength and speed were similar, but the difference in skill was clear. Hiroki was at a big disadvantage. Almost every attack from Hiroki was countered. He wasn't given the opportunity for an attack.
It was clear who the winner was, but Hiroki continued to fight. Hiroki does have the desire to win, but that wasn't the main reason for his desire to continue the fight.
His main reason was because of how he truly enjoys it, the thrill in fighting, the thrill of combat, the thrill of action. It was what Hiroki enjoyed the most.
But even then, Hiroki lost 3 minutes and 34 seconds into the fight, Hiroki lay there on the ground, completely defeated. Even then, he was happy. He was happy to make it this far, and he was happy he was given the opportunity to fight.
He got up limping, looking at the crowd who were both cheering for Satoshi and booing him. But Hiroki didn't care about that, he cared more about the fight than other people.
Hiroki reached out his hands to Satoshi once more, showing his appreciation. But Satoshi still didn't give him the reaction he wanted. Which bummed Hiroki out
‘Well… I shouldn't really have expected to much…’
“just like your father, you're weak. And soon die like a weakling just like him”
“...?”
Hiroki heard what his opponent had said, but Hiroki was too shock to realize what he had said. Hiroki stood there, unable to believe what Satoshi had said.
“... What? What did you just say?”
“Didn't you hear me? I said you're weak like your father, a bum. A person who owed a lot of debt and decided to die and leave his family behind. You're just equally as pathetic as he was”
As Satoshi finished what he said Hiroki realize he didn't misheard anything. It was exactly what he heard earlier. Hiroki's kind demeanor disappeared, and replaced with immense anger, frustration, and rage.
Hiroki walked up to him and grabbed his clothes.
“you jerk… you take back what you have said!!!”
“Why should I? Is it not the truth? You're father owed a lot of money to a lot of people. Borrowing money to multiple people, including my father. After all that borrowing it only brought him to 85 million yen debt. And surprise surprise you're father died in a ‘accident’, leaving your mother to pay off the debt herself. Truthfully, was it an accident, or did he simply just kill himself to get away from it all..?”
“Shut up…”
“From what I heard, you were in that car as well right? Truly pathetic, to think your father kill himself while you were still inside. Not caring about your own life.”
“Shut up..!”
“your dad is pathetic, your mother is pathetic, and the death of your father doesn't change anything in this world, and even the situation your currently in.”
[Snap]
Hearing his words Hiroki lost control. The anger he had built up over the years were released, and he attacked Satoshi with everything he had. Every skill, every dirty move. He scarred Satoshi in the most brutal ways possible.
He couldn't think about anything, he couldn't even remember what he was mad about in that state. He was just angry, angry at Satoshi, angry at the onlookers looking at him with disappointment, angry at himself for being so pathetic.
No one could hold him back, he continued to attack Satoshi over and over. Until he finally snapped back to reality.
As Hiroki regained his senses everything was too late, the guards has already pinned him to the ground, and there he saw Satoshi’s body. Everything was all messed up.
Satoshi's left eye were gouged out, his left arm was snapped in half, and the bones on his right leg were poking out. Every inch of his body was covered in bruises, Hiroki looked at Satoshi, crying in pain as blood looked out of his eyes.
That was Hiroki's first sins, and the time he was tainted by blood. Hiroki looked at him with pure fear and hatred. But the hatred wasn't directed to Satoshi, but to himself for what he has done.
Hiroki's mother was sued by the parents of Satoshi, and Hiroki escaped jail time for being a minor, and being said go be mentally ill.
After weeks since the incident Hiroki visited Satoshi in the hospital, wanting to apologize for his actions. But what arrives Hiroki was a critically injured person laying on the hospital bed.
“Why are you here…? I said why are you here!!!!”
Satoshi grabbed and threw his plate with food towards Hiroki. The shattered shards scarring his face. Hiroki didn't say anything, he was afraid of saying anything. The fear of what's to come from this situation.
“Because if you… because if you..! You're the reason I'm like this! You're the reason why I'm in this state!!!”
“I… I'm sorry-”
“Because of you I can't go professional now… . Because of you I'm missing an eye… BECAUSE OF YOU I CAN'T WALK OR USE MY HANDS PROPERLY!!!”
“A-ah… i-im so-”
“Does saying sorry heal me? Does saying sorry can get me out of this state? It doesn't right..? SO WHY DO YOU THINK I WANT TO HERE THAT!!!”
“...”
“Because of you… because… of…… uwaaaahh…”
Satoshi couldn't hold back his emotions, years falls from his crimson red eyes. Satoshi couldn't contain his emotions anymore. And Hiroki just stood there, unable to understand everything.
Overwhelming guilt consumed Hiroki, and hatred to himself. He lifted his hands and hallucinations of blood covered his palms, a marking, a stain, evidence if the sin he committed. He couldn't take it anymore. He rushed out of the room and went a nearby restroom, he went to a stall and threw up. He was disgusted, with himself and the action he did.
Because of that incident the love for fighting and his desires to fight vanished. He didn't want to fight anymore, he didn't want to cause any more problems, he didn't want to cause the same harm to others, and he didn't want to stain himself even more.
And because of that. The Hiroki, a promising talent that could one day become a true professional disappeared.
*
*
*
Hiroki’s consciousness slowly fades, as it does Hikaru looks down in disappointment.
“Hm… truthfully I can see why those executives lost to you. But it's disappointing seeing you hold back so much you don't even fight properly.”
He turned around to leave but as he did he felt a strange feeling behind him. Fear struck deep within him and he instinctively looked back, what he saw was none other than Hiroki. Raising back up, but something was different and Hikaru could feel it.
‘This guy… Isn't concious!!!’
[Murderous tendency has been used!]
Hiroki’s abilities were used once more, he was no longer controlling his own body. And that means there was no longer a ‘him’ to hold back his strength.
He rushed towards Hikaru and attacked him with a kick with all his might. Despite Hikaru managing to barely block the attack with his hands. The force was almost like a full blown defenseless attack.
Hikaru’s guard quickly broke as he was launched 30 feet away and crashed into a nearby building. Making a 10 feet big, 11 feet wide and 5 inch deep crack on the wall.
“Fuck… It seems in this state he's no longer holding back, but I didn't expect he was holding back this much…!”
[Hiroki Mori]
[STRENGTH:C+(10/10)]
[SPEED:B-(8/10)]
[DEFENSE:B+(5/10)]
[POTENTIAL:???]
Hiroki was full of killing intent, not to Hikaru, not to the onlookers, not to Satoshi. But to himself. Anger and desire to kill his own self over threw Hiroki's common sense, and started to hallucinate Hikaru as his own self.
Hiroki ran towards Hikaru again. With the full intention to kill. But even then Hikaru wasn't just some idiot who couldn't fight.
As Hikaru got off the crack Hiroki was already closing in. As Hiroki's fist was closing in, Hikaru's metal bat quickly swung upwards, Hikaru held both the tip and grip of the bat and blocked the attack from Hiroki.
Despite the block Hikaru was pushed back by 2 feet and the metal bay was bent to the point of being unusable.
“Wow… you seem really different from how you were before. One wrong move and I might actually die.”
“...”
Hikaru realized in an instant that what he was facing wasn't Hiroki. But someone possessing and using his body to act like him.
“As expected, despite being unconscious you're still moving. Are you even human?”
Hikaru knew the difference between their strength was already big, even if he gave up nothing would change since in this unconscious state, Hiroki cannot tell who is an ally and who's an enemy. So if he even dares to give up it would only cause harm not only to himself, but also the others who are watching.
‘Damn it… if I stop my precious juniors will get hurt… I can't… I can't let that happen again… not like before…”
Memories of the Tochigi prefecture syndicate taking over their school came flashing back, memories of how much harm they had caused to the members of his club.
“Senior… it hurts so much”
Memories of seeing his precious juniors crying in pain, memories he wanted to ignore but couldn't.
‘I have to protect them at all cost… no matter what!’
Hiroki rushed once more, this time much faster. Despite noticing it, his hands weren't fast enough to block the attack.
Hiroki kicked him in the stomach at full force. The pain was enough for him to puke out blood, as he sunk 3 feet deeper on the ground.
“Senior!!!”
They tried to approach him but were quickly stopped by him. Raising his hands, signaling to not get closer.
“Don't get any closer, this guy… isn't in his right mind! He can't properly think at all. If you get any closer he'll hurt you all too!”
He tried to warn them, but his juniors' loyalty didn't waver at all, they stood their ground. Even knowing they were nowhere close to Hiroki's strength they rushed to him and clung to Hiroki, trying to stop his attacks as well as blocking Hiroki from Hikaru with their own body.
“What the hell are guys-”
“I know we aren't comparable in strength between the two of you, and that he isn't in the right mind…”
“..!”
“But… I can't just let him hurt you like this!!!”
Despite the very clear risk of death, they did not waver. Their loyalty towards Hikaru was beyond just club members. But even then, you cannot win by simple miracles.
Hiroki grabbed one of the club members by their clothes and threw them away with a single hand.
“Roman!!”
One of the members screamed the name of the thrown player, they desperately tried to stop Hiroki, but none of it worked at all. As Hiroki was about to strike towards the player who was blocking his way a voice suddenly came talking inside his mind.
“You're really no different from before, Hiroki Mori”
“..!”
Inside his mind was another figure of himself, but much less human like. His clothes were ruined, his hair was messy, his pupils were pointy, and his teeth were as sharp as a shark.
“As expected, you can never truly escape from who you actually are.”
“W-what are you talking about..?!”
“What do you think, you retarded bastard. You're a [Monster]. Nothing more, nothing less.”
“W-what..?! N-no… I.. I'm nothing like that! I just…”
“Just what, Hiroki?”
The figure got closer, dark, shadowy smokes flowed out of his body. He was the dark side of Hiroki. No, he was still [Hiroki]. Just the part of himself he kept hidden for so long.
“Be honest with me, ‘me’, despite how you felt guilty from the incident, you were thrilled from it as well, weren't you?”
“What are you talking about?! How could I enjoy-”
“Did you think I wouldn't know? Did you forget that I'm still [you] hm? Remember that time clearly, my dear Hiroki. Remember on what happened that day”
“Remember how…”
“You smiled seeing him in total [despair].”
That time, seeing him crying in pain on the stage. Hiroki did feel guilt from in at, but he felt something much more than just guilt, something stronger. And that was…
Excitement
His excitement was larger than his guilt, he couldn't help but smile at the situation. Seeing someone in pain, in total [despair], was thrilling to say the least. That was the true origin from Hiroki’s [sin].
“...”
“Don't you see it now?”
The hidden side of Hiroki got closer, grinning wider. The already dark room was slowly consumed by darker shadows, making the room darker and darker.
“This is your true self, Hiroki. No matter what you can't escape, and instead of locking it away you should embrace it.”
“Embrace your true self, Hiroki Mori.”
Hiroki looked at him for a second, fear was overwhelming him. Not just because of the terrifying figure. But also because of the realization of who he truly was.
No, it wasn't a realization. He always knew he was like this, he merely coped and pretended he wasn't. But despite everything…
“I refuse.”
“...What?”
“I refuse to embrace [you], refuse to embrace [my true self]”
“?! You dickhead! Do you really think you can refuse?!?! No matter what you do you can never escape this hell! You can't! Even if not today, nor tomorrow, or even in a year, the day you'll become your [true self] will come!”
“But so what?”
Hiroki looked at the figure in the eye, which startled it. Hiroki stands his ground. No matter what the figure did, Hiroki did not waver.
“So what if I'll become ‘myself’ even if I deny them now. I'm still not me currently, and that's enough.”
“What are you saying…”
“What I'm saying is that I'll hold onto the false me, hold onto it to protect the people I care about.”
“...”
Hiroki firmly denies his ‘true self’. Even if it were temporary, he will continue to deny his true self to protect the people he cared about. And the innocents who were harmed because of sins they have not committed.
“Is that so..? Go ahead and do whatever you like, but I'll just let you know… no matter how much you try, you can never save everyone. At least, as long as [you] exist.”
“...? What's that supposed to mean?”
“Kekeke, you'll find out sooner or later. Well then, we'll meet each other in another time. Goodbye…”
[*$@$-$-’”+-& child]
“...?”
He couldn't hear what his ‘true self’ said. Like something was interfering with his hearing. But even then, it didn't bother him that much.
Back outside of his mind, Hiroki stands there motionless as everyone stares at him in confusion.
“Is he not going to move?”
“What does the great Faust have in mind?”
“I'm not gonna lie, I haven't masturbated in 2 weeks and I feel extremely horny right now.”
“dude, shut the fuck up. We're having a serious moment and you keep talking about stupid bullshit like that.”
After a short while Hiroki returned back to normal, Hiroki was still unconscious so he ultimately fell. But the players quickly grabbed him.
“... Satomi… stop saying disgusting bullshit like that again”
“Ah… okay then senior…”
Hikaru stood back up. The other players tried to help him up but he stopped them from doing so.
“I'm fine, I'm fine. I can still stand up properly”
He looked down at Hiroki Mori's unconscious body. He then announced amongst his peers, companions, allies, and club mates.
“We will participate and help Faust with his plans. I'm sure with his strength he can go against ‘him’”
After a short while of thinking he had changed his mind.
“Nah never mind, he wasn't as strong as him when I first fought that guy. But still, I'm sure we'll manage.”
“Senior..!”
“As expected of the great Faust!!!”
“hikirima, shut up. Your Faust thing is getting annoying.”
Hikaru walked away limping, right before he got a call. He took out his phone that miraculously came unharmed.
“Wow… how come you're all good but I'm not?”
He looked at the caller and it was none other than Yuji. Hikaru was surprised, he wasn't expecting Yuji to call him. After all, it's been a while since they had a conversation. Or even met face to face. He answered the call, waiting for what Yuji could possibly need.
“Hello? Is this really you Yuji? It's been a while since we last talked. What's up?”
[Hey Hikaru… can I ask you a favor?]
“Hm…? Sure, why not”
[Alright, thanks. We should meet up somewhere, let's meet up on (???) Street]
“Sure thing Yuji”
After that the call ended, Hikaru was surprised. Yuji wasn't the type to ask for favors, so it would be a first. Still, he still thought of Yuji as a friend even though they barely spoke that much.
‘wow… Yuji was never the type to ask for favors, so it must be something serious. I guess I need to help him out’
“Everyone!”
He shouted, everyone paused to listen to what Hikaru had to say. Hikaru turned back to face the others. He cleared his throat before speaking.
“Bring Faust somewhere secure so he could rest for now. As for me I have somewhere to go, I'll meet you all later to discuss his plan”
“Alright senior! Please take care.”
“Don't worry Senior, we'll protect Faust with all our might!”
After hearing their reassurance Hikaru smiles and waved goodbye. And the rest of the players lifted and dragged Hiroki back inside the shop.
*
*
*
Somewhere in Tokyo prefecture. A meeting was held inside of a 5 story building. The meeting of the leaders of the Kanto region.
“It's been a while since we had our last meeting~ will it be the long awaited promotion for me to reach rank 5th~”
[Misono Sakura] age:19
ranked 6th
Numbers of men:1,250
The leader of the Gunma Prefecture
The Sakura flowers syndicate
“Promotion? Who the hell do you think you are for getting a promotion?! You can never surpass the likes of me!”
[King] age:22
Ranked 5th
Number of men:1,550
Leader of the Ibaraki prefecture
The hellfire syndicate
“Now now, you two shouldn't fight because of this~ how do you think ‘he’ would react seeing you two fight like this~”
[Himiya jouzo] age:25
Ranked 2nd
Numbers of men: 5,756
Leader of the Kanagawa Prefecture
The Ushi oni syndicate
“...”
[Fiend] age:20
Ranked 4rth
Numbers of men:3,350
Leader of the chiba prefecture
The silent killers syndicate
All 7 leaders of the Kanto region syndicate had gathered to start a meeting. Currently the people that have arrived were the 6th, 5th, 2nd and 4th rank. And the 7th, 3rd and 1st ranked still haven't arrived.
“Anyways, where the hell are they anyway? Especially ‘him’. Doesn't he own the Tokyo prefecture? Why him of all people are late anyways”
Said by the 6th ranked leader, Misono Sakura, who is currently tapping the wooden circular table they were using. Himiya Jouzo simply just smiled and replied to her question.
“It seems ‘he’ is currently late due to some meeting with some high officials while Hinata-san can't attend the meeting because of some personal related stuff. I don't know the reasons why Josuke is late tho…”
“Seriously..? Who the hell does that guy think he is for being this late, he is the most pathetic of us all but he is still a leader. He and Hinata both should act like it.”
“Now, now Sakura san~. You shouldn't be too mean to them now. After all, we are a team right?”
“Team? Are you fucking joking? We're here for one reason only. And that is to make money, none of us truly care for each other. Money is what brought us together, and we grouped up with one another to increase our manpower. Money is everything in this current time and age.”
“Man cannot simply live without money, power and status. A Man with none of those will continue to suffer while the Man with power, wealth and at the top of the hierarchy will continue to live a life filled with privilege, using the poor at their advantage. We are simply taking advantage of one another while taking advantage of the people under us. Even right now while we're ‘teaming’ with each other, all of us are in a hierarchy. There's no equality in this group, no true companionship or alliance.”
“Every single one of us are grouping with one another to take advantage of each other, and once one of us becomes useless we dump them with no mercy.”
Sakura expressed her beliefs, the beliefs that Man can't be anything without status and power. Everything is futile without it. Power is everything, without it you're nothing. The system and hierarchy will forever exist no matter what. And the underprivileged will continue to work under the strong without any proper appreciation.
“Well that is true… but still, if we continue to be negative all of the time and not work with one another, none of it will be possible. We're already getting fucked over because of the current situation we are all in after the Hokkaido and Tohoku syndicate had started an alliance, increasing their manpower more than before and as well as the increase of payment needed by ‘him’.”
“Also, I don't care about your beliefs in hierarchy. You didn't need to do all that yapping you have done earlier”
He expressed with a calm yet venomous smile. The tension inside the room was getting thicker. Everyone was on each other's neck. Except for Fiend who's been silent the entire conversation.
At any given moment they were gonna start attacking each other. As time passes, they slowly draw their weapons, with the exception of fiend, once again. Just simply patiently waiting for the arrival of the 1st rank.
They are about to attack until the door opens, as the arrival of the number 1 comes.
“Enough, all of you. You're all acting like children.”
“..!”
There arrives a man with pink hair and green eyes. He was 167 cm tall, but his build was truly remarkable, leaning into the lean side. His expression was cold. And his aura was unmatched.
Everyone immediately stopped what they're doing. Sakura, king and Himiya stopped their urges to attack and sat back down on their seats.
“Well then… let's soon begin our discussions towards our plans”
[Haruto Hiroshi] age 17
Rank 1st
Numbers of men:12,776
Leader of the Tokyo prefecture
Split tongue organization
After a few brief moments of silence, the meeting had officially started. A total of 5 out of the 7 leaders had attended the meeting on time. Ranked 3rd was absent and ranked 7th was late.
“Well then, let's first discuss the absence of both rank 3rd, Hinata Aoi and rank 7, Josuke Kawamura.”
Haruto cleared his throat, he was the youngest amongst them all, but despite that he was the strongest, smartest, and most cunning out of them.
“The reason for the absence of Hinata Aoi is due to the recent attempt to attack a prefecture from the kansai syndicate. The attempt was unsuccessful but the prefecture of Yamagata had been dealt with much more losses, with losing around 500 out of 1200 men. But Hinata-san is currently injured because of the fight. As for Josuke… he's just simply late.”
“Well, isn't Josuke just simply incompetent? I'm still confused as to why exactly he had become the leader instead of ‘that guy'. Sure he wasn't as strong as Josuke. But his leadership and ways for profit were simply better.”
Sakura expressed her disdain for Josuke. She views him as nothing more but an incompetent bastard who managed to get lucky into becoming a leader. Josuke had no true talent and leadership, the only thing special about him was his strength, but even with that specialty he wasn't as strong as the other leaders.
“I had my thoughts on that too, when I first saw him I saw potential. After all, out of everyone here, he has the higher chance of [awakening]. But still, even with that awakening, I can't help but be disappointed with his current state. As of recently his profit was reduced due to someone interfering with his work. And there's still not too much good information on who that individual was. With all honesty, I have desires to replace him. But no one has come to mind on who it can be.”
“Honestly, extortion as the main source of income is stupid and so outdated. The true way of making money is easily loan sharks isn't it?! His incompetence is way too shocking.”
“Now, now Sakura chan~. No need to be so hateful to a fellow leader, he may not be that good. But he's still one of us, removing him without a chance will just get rid of some of our income for a period of time till somebody replaces him.”
“Indeed. For the meantime, we keep him as a leader momentarily, before we eventually disband him after funding a suitable replacement. Unless he messes up and gets his organization ruined by the same guy who had been currently messing with him.”
After finishing his statement he was now about to change the topic. It was time to discuss a much more serious topic.
“As of today, we will be planning to invade the Tohoku syndicate within the the year”
“?!?!”
Everyone was in disbelief from what they had heard. It was bad enough to attempt to invade a prefecture from them, but to announce a war against them so suddenly. It was all too soon. So obviously some of them had a disagreement with this approach.
“Are you crazy?! One of our sides is already damaged as it is, and one of us is extremely incompetent! What you're planning is nothing more but a death wish!”
Sakura expressed her emotions with frustration, the sudden announcement to start a war was shocking to her. Her face had many emotions flooding. anger, frustration, and fear. This was a high risk high rewards type situation, but as of right now. This high risk was too much considering their current state.
“I'd hate to agree with her of all people but she's right, Haruto-kun. We are currently lacking in terms of manpower, any sort of attempt to invade them without proper preparation is just a death sentence at this point.”
“...”
“Say something as well Fiend!!!! How can a silent bastard like you be above me!!!!”
All of them expressed their opinions about the suicidal attempt, but Haruto remained calm.
“Calm down, everyone. I understand where this anger is coming from. But I wouldn't have done this without any preparation at all, so I have decided to form a temporary alliance with chugoku.”
“What..!!!”
Sakura said loudly, shocked at the sudden decision of joining hands with the Chugoku organization.
“Hey Haruto… I understand that we need more territory to expand, but raiding someone while we're currently dealing with losses will just do us more damage. We're not prepared to face them yet. Also, joining hands with the Chugoku organization? How can we trust them? They're the most cunning dickheads throughout all 8 regions. I'm sorry, but I just don't see how we could trust them with this plan…”
“I understand all of your frustration, Himiya. Do not misunderstand this as me saying to trust them, I know how they are. But I did not make a deal to join hands with them without any plans at all.”
With that Haruto opened his sleeves, what he showed left the others shocked. It was a tattoo-like marking on his arms. Shaped like fire, it was none other than the “hells contract”
[Devil's contract]
Unlike other contracts the penalty for this is much more life threatening than others. The contract is like any other contract except for one key feature. The penalty for breaking the contract.
If an individual breaks their promise on the contract they will be consumed by internal flames. Burning every part of their body, but despite that the flames never kill them or even die down.
But the flames will still give them extreme pain in every part of their body, and the flames will only disappear if you decided to kill yourself, or die in any sort of way.
“I've made a contract with them that we would raid Tohoku sooner or later, and we'd split both territory and money 50/50. And once our raid is over we'd still have a momentarily 10 day peace treaty in order to settle down on the new territory.”
Everyone other than Haruto was shocked. The devil's contract was something that people use so simply. One wrong move and you would be in immense suffering. But Haruto was calm, like it wasn't a big deal at all. Shortly after Fiend took out a piece of paper and pen, and wrote something down.
“Fuck… this guy should just use his word.”
After finishing what he had written he handed them to Haruto. Haruto took the notes and read them.
(Are you sure about this? Wouldn't they have made any loop holes on the contract? You're the main power of our group, if we lose you we will definitely be at a disadvantage)
“I know how you're worried about me Fiend, but worry not. I have already checked it thoroughly, there were no loopholes they can use to their advantage.”
“Well if you say so..” Himiya said. “You already made the contract anyway so we can't really do anything about it.”
“Well, I guess you're right…”
“I still think this is stupid.” Sakura grumbles
“...”
With that, the meeting was almost at an end, before Haruto stopped using his phone.
“By the way, King. You should use deodorant. I could smell you across the table.”
“Ah, alright. Sorry…”
A short while after discussing other topics everyone had decided to end the meeting and take their leave. And 10 minutes after the others had left Josuke had arrived.
“I'm sorry I'm late! I-”
As he opens the door he realizes everyone has already left, as he looks around the dark, empty room he finds a note on his side of the table. He went inside to get closer. As he checks it reads.
[Don't be late next time. Yours truly, Fiend]
“... Fuck.”
Bonus story(because it's already almost at 7k words and I wanna reach it)
[The strange playboy I met in my part time job]
Timeline-15 days before Yuji met Hiroki
I, Yuji Kamei. I am currently in a conversation with the strange playboy I met on my part time job. All we have ever talked about was one piece related stuff. Even though talking to him was kind of strange it was nice to speak with someone with the same interest as me.
As we continued to chat the man decided to talked about something else.
[By the way, wanna hang out sometimes? I got a great place for us to drink]
… eh? What? He's asking me to go out for a drink..?
[Sorry, but I'm still 16…. I can't really drink alcohol…]
[C'mon~ it'll be alright, no one has to know. It'll just be the two of us~]
…Ah… no… I need to refuse… . But this was one of the only times I had fun talking too… if I deny wouldn't he hate me..? I don't know what to do, my reasoning was getting messed up.
[A-alright then…]
After I made that reply he didn't send a reply back, Which made me a bit anxious. But a few minutes later he replied.
[I'm joking haha, there's no way I would ask a minor to go out for a drink.]
[Ah… but you said]
[I was just messing with you. Also, you should learn how to refuse. You're a minor, you shouldn't agree to go out with someone older than you so easily, except for relatives and families I guess.]
[We're complete strangers, he did meet once a few days ago and have talked a bit. But that was only one time and our friendship is strictly online. You should be cautious on who you meet on the internet.]
[Ah… alright I guess…]
[Also, I would like to apologize for my actions when we first met. I wasn't thinking about my surroundings at that time and had done something inappropriate, you must've seen what I had done. I apologize once more for the inappropriate actions I've done.]
[Oh, okay. Thank you for apologizing]
… this guy is really strange, he wasn't what I had expected from someone with his appearance. Maybe I shouldn't make assumptions that people with his style are all Playboy's… oh wait, he is a playboy.
After that the two of them continued to talk. But as of recently they barely had any conversation due to both being busy with their work.