The sun had risen once more, students were already in packs at school. In a certain area, a couple of boys and girls had grouped up, looking very serious but also quite drowsy.
"I have something, not sure it's valid though" – Takeru
"Yeah me too" – Jorn
"I think we can do something too" – Haru
"Good, mind going first, Jorn?" – Takeru
"Not at all. So I know someone, he can serve as a good spy" – Jorn
"Is it a Chryson?" – Takeru
"Quick, silent and obedient, what more could you ask for?" – Jorn
"That's settled, now what about you guys?" – Takeru
"Well we were planning to gain information about what the president was planning on cultural day and confront him" – Haru
"Damn yeah… cultural day, that's like tomorrow. I wouldn't have come as always but I guess this year is different. We have little time to waste" - Miyuki
"Hmmm that's pretty good. I was more leaning towards a more offensive approach but your plan is good as well" – Takeru
"An offensive approach…?" – Miyuki
"Yeah, like bring Seiichi into this and overthrow Haji for his misdeeds" – Takeru
"Erm… I think that would be harder than you think" – Jorn
"Yeah, that's why I said I doubted it's validity earlier, better go with your plan Haru" – Takeru
"Okay, you friend will spy on Haji so you will be free Jorn. You'll be able to ask around about Haji's plans" – Takeru
"Indeed, I'm not sure that'll be the important part though. We might have to rely on Kuro more than we realise…" – Jorn
"Information is information, can't let something slip by" – Takeru
"Haru, I trust you to find something from your friends and Miyuki you'll have to talk to Seiichi about something, I'll tell you after" – Takeru
"Alright" – Haru and Miyuki
The bell rings and everyone spreads out, Miyuki follows Takeru.
"So, what did you want to tell me?" – Miyuki
"Seiichi needs to know what's going on and… There's something I didn't mention that day…" – Takeru
"…I think I've heard the worst already… pretty hard to believe to be honest" – Miyuki
"… you didn't… before I… you know did what I did… I witnessed horrible things" – Takeru
As Takeru went on to describe the events of the sewers, Miyuki's face of curiosity changed to one filled with horror and shivers went down her body as she imagined the gruesome depictions.
"S-Stop…" – Miyuki
Takeru looks down in regret and sadness. Miyuki walked away, almost teary eyed, whispering a few words in Takeru's general direction.
"I…I'll try to tell him…" – Miyuki
"…" – Takeru
Takeru remained silent and still for a while and moved on to his classroom.
Miyuki sat in class with a distant look, she couldn't stop imagining what had been described to her a few moments ago, she decided it would be best to focus on the teacher's words.
"Have you guys ever heard of the unexpected hanging paradox? No? Okay." – Teacher
"So basically, a prisoner was sentenced to death by hanging, except the day of the hanging would be a surprise, he was then put back in his cell left to his own mind" – Teacher
"The prisoner then came up with a conclusion. If the hanging was on Friday, it would not come as a surprise since by Thursday night he would've already known if he was going to be executed" – Teacher
"The prisoner then went by all the days of the week and concluded that he would not get hanged as he ruled all days of the week out" – Teacher
"Was he executed then?" – student
"He actually was; on a Wednesday the executioner came knocking on his door. Now what I would like to know is why the prisoner was executed even though it wasn't actually a surprise?" – Teacher
The students start chatting amongst themselves pondering for an answer. Eventually, the teacher stops them, asking for an answer.
"Erm… the prisoner's logic was faulty?" – student
"Valid answer but may you please elaborate?" – Teacher
"…" – student
The student fails to provide a response and the teacher moves on to another.
"Okay who next!" – Teacher
Miyuki hesitantly decided to respond.
"…I think I know…" – Miyuki
"Let's hear it then" – Teacher
"The judge who gave the prisoner the death sentence had actually lured him into a false sense of safety. He knew the prisoner would come to the conclusion that he would not get executed, making it a surprise" – Miyuki
"Ahh good answer, one that actually wasn't part of the two answers I was looking for but acceptable anyways" – Teacher
Miyuki stays quiet and quickly strays away from the teacher's gaze.
After the first couple periods had ended, Miyuki moved to the cafeteria, where she located Seiichi, who was actually the one who called her over. Miyuki went over with a puzzled look on her face.
"Hey Miyuki, I need to tell you something" – Seiichi
"Actually… I was about to do the same..." – Miyuki
"Oh… mind if I go first it's rather important" – Seiichi
"…okay" – Miyuki
"… I told a friend of my brother's about Takeru" – Seiichi
"Like, I couldn't just let it go! I mean it was mu- "– Seiichi
"ARE YOU INSANE!?" – Miyuki
"Huh?" – Seiichi
"DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT HE HAS DONE YOU!!?" – Miyuki
Seiichi takes quick glances around and notices everyone looking in their direction, he acts promptly.
"Miyuki, please, quiet down everyone is watching…" – Seiichi, whispering
Miyuki, even in her great anger, manages to calm down a bit. Seiichi walks over to a more private area; Miyuki follows with little resistance.
"Do you know what your president did that day? When you were absent? He reported you both to the principal…" – Miyuki
"Tch… fucking Haji" – Seiichi
"He told us that he covered for you. If he didn't do anything you would've been thrown out of the council!" – Miyuki
"…" – Seiichi
"And do you want to know what the worst part is?" – Miyuki
"When he was down in the sewers he discovered that The Red Sect were in the process of creating hybrids BY USING HUMAN BABIES! THAT IS JUST EW!!" - Miyuki
Miyuki looked extremely distressed, Seiichi did not know how to react to such a revelation. With no words to spell out, he clenched his fists and walked away, trying to hide his obvious feelings of regret, guilt and anger seeping out. Miyuki did not bother reproaching the latter for his actions and dropped down on the floor, mentally fatigued from the unfair and aggravating chain of events.
Concurrently, Jorn reached out to his Chryson friend, who was chilling under a tree in the backyard.
"Hey man what's good?" – Seiichi
"Nothing much bro, just enjoying some shade. What's going on with you?" – Kuro
"Nothing much either… except I have a favour to ask…" – Jorn
"Ahhh should've known. Want me to steal a sweet roll or something?" – Kuro
"Those exist in the real world?" – Seiichi
"I dunno actually, gotta check that out later" - Kuro
"So, what do you need?" – Kuro
"A stealth job. Need some information, anything peculiar you can hear. The job has to be today too… and of course, you'll be handsomely rewarded" – Jorn
"You're lucky I'm free today, who's the target and is there anything specific I need to be looking out for?" – Kuro
"The target is the student council president Haji Yukamura and I would prefer if you note anything he says on Seiichi Minakami or Takeru Hayano. It's preferable if you keep you keep some distance from any of his lackeys" – Jorn
"Siiii the president huh, you'll owe me a good one Jorn and if anything happens don't blame me if they come after you" – Kuro
"That's a good deal I guess. I'll see you after school ends" – Seiichi
"Gotcha" – Kuro
Haru strolled around the school premises looking for anyone talking about the situation tomorrow, eventually stumbling upon a group of girls who seemed quite excited about the event. Haru quickly blends in and starts extracting information.
"Hey, what chu talkin guys 'bout without me?" – Haru
"Oh you didn't hear? The festival tomorrow will be grandiose, the president knows someone from KDC and they are coming here to sing. Kyaaaa" – unknown
"Ahh I see sounds pretty nice" – Haru
"Pretty nice? This is amazing! The KDC are the best band around. I can't believe they're coming here!" – unknown
"Hehe yeah, yeah t-they totally are" – Haru
"Right!!?" – unknown
"O-okay guys I'll see you another time" – Haru
"Byeee" – unknown
(Haru to herself) "Ugh more like never… I wonder if the others are done already"
Haru moves away from the halls and heads back to class.
Later on in the day, Takeru was on his own quest to find information. During his travels, he noticed a familiar young girl, about 13 or 14 years of age. As the girl was alone and had a depressive look, he tried to appear normal and cheerful as he slowly approached her.
"Heyyy how's it going there!" - Takeru, waving and smiling
"Eh!?" - girl, startled by the sudden appearance of Takeru
"Oh! Sorry hehe" - Takeru
Takeru already sensed that the situation was getting increasingly awkward, seeing the girl avoiding his gaze and pouting slightly.
"W-what do you want…?" - girl, a little blush appearing on her face
"Uhhh… I just wanted to say that you had incredible skill with the flute hehe" - Takeru, sweating and scratching his head
"Ehh!? I-I'm nothing special uhmm…?" - girl, sending a confused gaze at Takeru
"Takeru, Takeru Hayano" - Takeru
"I'm Azumi…" - Azumi, blushing even more
"Oh uh, nice to meet you Azumi!" - Takeru, trying his best to keep the situation from getting even more awkward
"N-Nice to meet you too…" - Azumi
"So what grade are you in?" - Takeru
"I'm currently in grade 10…" - Azumi
"Oh, you must be making a lot of friends at that age" - Takeru
Azumi's face suddenly changed, getting teary eyed and looking a bit down overall.
"What is it?" - Takeru
"I… I don't have any actually…" - Azumi, muttering in a sad tone and slightly shaking her head
"I was afraid of approaching anyone as they were already with others so I was never able to befriend anyone…" - Azumi
(Takeru to himself) "Oh god not another one… if she continues down this path she's going to end up like me or Miyuki and that's downright bad…"
"Hey! I can be your friend!" - Takeru, pretending to be in a cheerful manner, causing Azumi to be taken aback a bit
"Ehhhh!?" - Azumi
"Here, you can have my number if you want" - Takeru, showing the girl his contact info
Azumi remains quiet and simply takes it down. Takeru gives another huge smile as he steps away to avoid looking creepy. Azumi, still a bit surprised, decides to smile back.
(Azumi to herself) "He's a bit of a weirdo but he seems nice"
After wandering around and coming up with nothing, the multi-coloured hair boy decided to meet back up with his friends.
"So Jorn, you talk to that friend of yours?" – Takeru
"I did, he said he'll see me after school if he finds anything… and I went searching but nothing came up…" – Jorn
"Nothing on my side either… how about you Haru?" – Takeru
"I heard something about a band coming in tomorrow but that was it…" – Haru
"I see… listen, you guys finish up with class, Jorn after you meet up with that friend of yours you relay us the information too. Tomorrow we'll confront Haji while everyone enjoys the festival" – Takeru
"Alright, let's hope he finds something…" – Jorn
The group splits up but Miyuki stops Takeru just as he had turned around to leave.
"Hey, Takeru wait… I-I need to tell you something" – Miyuki
"Oh yea, any progress with Seiichi?" – Takeru
"That's the thing…" – Miyuki
Miyuki proceeds to inform the boy about Seiichi's previous action, shocking the latter greatly. After a quick reflection, he opens up his phone and calls his room mate, fearing that he might be in danger.
"Hey Regi, you there? Are you okay?" – Takeru
"Yea, yea What's going on?" – Reginald
"Listen, get ready someone might actually raid the house at any time now. If ever you hear knocking you get out of there you hear me?" – Takeru
"Fuck's going on man?" – Reginald
"Just do what I said okay!" – Takeru
"Alright, alright" – Reginald
Takeru hangs up, his hands slightly shaking. He then squats and tightly grabs his own hair, pulling on it.
"… Shit! It's all my fault… I should have never told you guys what happened down there in the first place…" – Takeru
"…" – Miyuki
"I g-gotta go…" – Miyuki
"…" – Takeru
Miyuki runs off with an anguished look on her face.
"I'm such a retard" – Takeru, facepalming
Takeru ponders at his own stupidity, kicks some trash nearby before moving to class.
Kuro moved with precaution, his every step calculated. He knew the risks of being caught spying, especially on a member of the student council. Eventually, his target met up with someone shady and they began discussing noteworthy matters.
"I'll bring him to shame forever tomorrow. He'll pay for everything he did to me!" – Haji
"Now that I think about it, why are you so hell-bent on destroying Seiichi. I've heard you two were good friends once" – unknown
"Tch" – Haji
…
"Ow stop it hurts! STOP please I didn't do anything!" – unknown
"ADMIT YOU FUCKER! YOU STOLE MY SHIT!" – unknown
"No please I didn't! Really!" – unknown
"Shut the fuck up" – unknown
The child kept getting non-stop hits from the bully, no one seemed there to give him a hand, until…
"HEY HEFF!" – unknown
"Huh!?" – Heff
Heff turns back to see the new comer.
"Fuck, it's Seiichi!" – Heff
"L-listen man I-I" – Heff
"Shut up! I don't want to hear any excuses! You better get off of him before I kick your ass to the principal's office!" – Seiichi
"Fuck man alright!" – Heff
Heff quickly moves off the child and runs away at great speed. Seiichi approaches the young boy to give him a hand.
"Hey are you alright?" – Seiichi
"It hurts a bit but I think I'll be okay" – unknown
"It's better not to take any risks and pay the nurse a visit. She has ice!" – Seiichi
"… okay…" – unknown
The two, slowly but surely, make their way to the school nurse.
"Listen uhmm" – Seiichi
"I-It's Haji" – Haji
"I'm Seiichi" – Seiichi
"I know, you're getting pretty popular here with your judicious deeds" – Haji
"Got that from my brother, we've been on the side of law for quite a long time now" – Seiichi
"I see…" – Haji
"So anyway, I wanted to say that you have to be careful with people like Heff, always keep a friend around for precaution. He isn't the type to go after groups" – Seiichi
"I-I don't have any friends…" – Haji
Seiichi smirks
"You have one now" – Seiichi
"Huh?" – Haji
After this short interaction, Seiichi brought the boy to the school nurse for a quick check-up. From that day those two became close friends, almost never leaving each other's side. Haji soon developed his own sense of justice with the heavy influence of Seiichi. Although, Seiichi always seemed to be better than him… at everything, no matter how much Haji tried.
If Haji helped someone once, Seiichi helped plenty more. Their grades had quite a significant difference between them and Seiichi was even better at sports than him. Everyone appreciated Seiichi for his righteous views and actions. He was the king of the school in Haji's eyes.
On a certain day, the two were strolling through the cafeteria, when a certain girl caught Haji's eye. He turned towards Seiichi for an answer.
"Seiichi, who is that?" – Haji, pointing towards the girl
"W- Oh her? That's the new girl… pretty, right? I'm pretty sure her name was Amie" – Seiichi
"Ahh, I see a new girl" – Haji
"What, you have a little crush now?" – Seiichi
Haji blushes
"N-No" – Haji
"Whatever man, just don't forget justice before hoes" – Seiichi
Haji sighs
"You and your weird quotes…" – Haji
Haji felt a slight increase in his heartbeats every time he saw Amie, at that time, he didn't realise it but he was already in love. A couple weeks had passed since; Haji was patrolling his area as always when he accidentally stumbled upon an irritating scene.
"YOU STOLE MY STUFF THIS TIME!?" – Heff
"EEEKK, NOO!!" – Amie
"STOP LYING!" – Heff
"AH, IT HURTS" – Amie
Haji cracked his knuckles, furious at the scene he was witnessing. Without warning, he leaps into the air and kicks Heff to the ground. He then kneels down and starts punching the boy non-stop. While doing so, a thought came to his mind.
(Haji to himself) "Yes! With this I've finally saved Amie a-and now I'll be just as good NO better than Seiichi!"
"TAKE THIS, YOU MOTHERFUCKER!!" – Haji
"GUWAH ARGH AHAH" – Heff
While they were in battle, Amie quickly scurried away to find any help she could. Soon, Seiichi appeared and pulled Haji away from the bloody mess he was making.
"HEY MAN, CALM DOWN!" – Seiichi
"LET ME, SEIICHI!" – Haji
"STOP MAN, HE'S HAD ENOUGH" – Seiichi
Haji managed to catch his breath and stopped resisting Seiichi's grip. He gave an intense glare at the fallen Heff.
"Damn man. You have to work on your self control, you want to get in trouble, do you?" – Seiichi
"Tch" – Haji
Haji started walking away but a single cry from Amie made him turn around. What he saw crushed him.
"Seiichi! It's so horrible!" – Amie
Seiichi was clenching Amie who was crying excessively.At that moment, Haji's world was twisted upside down. From that day, he started seeing things differently, he saw Seiichi at the top, as the more popular one. Haji's heart was smashed to bits.
His friends, reputation and love all left him behind. No matter what he did he could not catch up. He saw them drifting away from the darkness that he was in and to the light that was Seiichi
Haji was left helpless, stuck in an eternal path of revenge.
...