***
Following the incident, the two were living independently. With little to no food to eat and little water to drink, Nara's former body became fragile, and her hair was exceedingly unkempt, with a face covered in dust from the unclean environment.
Her father, Naoto, was suddenly a wanted man with a reward of sixty million yen for his head—as a result of this poster, his rank increased from Grade 3 to a Grade 5 anomaly, and his renown began to exceed his expectations.
The former jovial father had progressively lost his sense of justice after losing his wife. One time while Nara and him were wandering in the dark streets, her father began to teach her how to hunt—kill anomalies or humans.
They were traveling down the alley and noticed two crackheads smoking meth in the side as the two stood menacingly watching them get high. The crackheads noticed them glaring at them, and a pathetic dark-haired man with a thick beard pointed at them.
"Hey, what're you two lookin at?! If you want some meth, just scram!"
The crackhead throws the two a pack of methamphetamine, and they gaze at the man as he busts another hit.
"I just gave ya two some meth, scram already!"
The father nodded to his daughter as she approached the man with a lifeless expression wrapped deep inside the eyes, placing her small palm between the crackhead's nose.
"The hell are ya-"
In an instant, many strands sprang from outside the man's brain, forcing his eyeballs to jump out and hemorrhage. She stared at the other crackhead, who did not appear to be paying attention as his partner died.
"Just kill me already; you guys need our kind in order to live, right?"
The crackhead, with a carefree grin, takes another hit from his tube while looking at Nara with bloodshot eyes. Nara showed a slight sympathetic expression as she approached the man, forming a knife using her bones, ready to slit the man's throat.
"No."
Her father abruptly grabbed her hand, preventing her from killing the suicidal crackhead, as he quickly swiped it out of her hand and pushed the child's knife into his neck, drawing it out as blood squirted from his veins and he gargled in his own blood.
The both looked at the crackhead as he smiled, hugging the child. And before he died, he said in a gargled voice.
"Thank you, child."
They both stared vaguely at the two murdered crackheads as Naoto fashioned a butcher's knife from his skill to chop off the sad crackhead's arm as he took a bite out of it while in tears, squeezing it so tightly that it broke its bones.
"Nara, we should eat now."
He hands Nara the cut limb, and she begins to eat the man's arm with a disgusted ook—it tasted like sweat and meth combined.
The two continued their adventure for two years, until Nara was a mature adolescent woman working with the hoodlums to make some money. Meanwhile, his father was invited to join a group known as Shimo.
The group was extremely generous to the man, giving him a wad of cash every time he did his errands. This built a roof over their heads, and it ultimately helped her daughter pursue her degree once more.
However, Nara was living this life. Naoto stopped going home; in fact, he hasn't gone home for about two months already. Nara began to worry about her father's condition as she constantly contacted her father's number from the old flip phone.
After a few months of frequent calls, she decided to contact the police. While she was getting dressed, a group of men wearing white coats knocked on her front door.
—Shimo members.
"Nara, open the door."
Shimo members, what are they doing here?
Nara, with a cold palm and a slightly worried expression, opened the door.
"Come with us."
"Why?"
"Do you want to see Naoto?"
Nara's pupils dilate as she surreptitiously produced a bone knife behind her.
"What did you do to him?"
"You see, Naoto killed one of us; he was a traitor."
"And a good one at that, he manipulated us into thinking we were starting to be close buddies until he went rampant and started to kill all of them in the area just for a stupid-"
Nara, hiding her rage behind a cynical expression, glared at the three guys as one of them stopped talking by tapping his shoulder.
"I see."
"I'm glad you're taking this lightly, but we still have an offer to make with you if you still want to see Naoto."
"Tell me."
"Pay us five hundred million yen worth of insurance for all the men he has killed."
Nara peered blankly into their eyes. Gripping her blade tightly.
"What?"
"We'll give you as long as possible to pay us the five hundred million; even if you don't pay the five hundred million, we just won't care. So you see, it's basically up to you if you want to pay us or not; there is no deadline."
Nara retreated her blade into her skin and walked out the door.
"I'll do it."
***
While carrying Sasaki's unconscious body, Nara got exhausted and dropped him off the wooden bench in the park, resting his head on the hardwood material of the bench. While she stood behind the bench resting her chin while she was staring at the stars.
She glanced at Sasaki for a moment, giving him a sympathetic expression while she watched him remain unconscious.
"I'm sorry, Sasaki, for such a bad first impression."
She continued to carry Sasaki on her back, wrapping his arms around her as they walked throughout the city. The city lights shone as brightly as the stars, as the engines revved smoothly.
The two quickly arrived in a dreary, dark place. After losing track of her father for three years, Nara hid her happiness under a jaded expression.
Carrying Sasaki's body, Nara entered the dimly lit room with checkered flooring. She turned to face the guy in front of her, sitting down nonchalantly. with his face hidden by a white cloak while his goons were scattered around the entire room.
"Kinji, I have what you're asking for! An entire body of an anomaly is worth a lot, right?!"
"Depends, who's buying?"
"You."
Kinji chuckled a little.
"Me? Oh well then, I'm glad to be your customer, dear."
"One hundred million for him; you can even sell his body in the black market for an even greater price too."
With a faint scowl and lifeless, deep white eyes, the man chewed off and crunched on his index finger.
"I did mention, you only have one hundred million left in your debt. To earn money this quickly in a span of three years, you can be a businesswoman at this point."
"Will you take him?"
"Of course, he is worth a lot. After all, he is Sasaki Jiketsu; his name is scattered across the city after killing the auctioneer and countless guests, am I right, Sasaki?"
Sasaki fixed his head and gave the man a fierce glare as he slowly stood up. He let out a fit of laughter.
"Hmph, how'd you know?"
"You expect me to believe that she had the guts to kill someone like you?"
"Now that you mention it, nah."
Incited, Nara used her bones to forge a knife; she advanced on Sasaki with a bellicose demeanor before severing Sasaki's arm.
The boy gave her a snide look, leaned down, took her knife, and pointed it beneath his neck while grinning mischievously.
"Do it, kill me. All it takes is one knife to my brain, right? If you have the guts to kill the person you apologized to."
Perplexed by this, Nara dropped her knife and retreated from Sasaki, who was standing there laughing uncontrollably. He looked around the room to notice hundreds of men with white cloaks drawing their Kigai.
"Oh my, aren't you all feisty? We can get off with a deal though, Kinji. No need to shed some blood, since I also have knowledge of Shimo's bankruptcy caused by some hound."
Kinji's smile disappeared as he revealed his full appearance to Sasaki, showing a huge scar encircling over the man's shady eyes.
"Ouch, that must sting a lot, huh."
"That hound, he almost chopped my brain into bits after that strike. I have no interest in meeting him for a second time, nor hearing his name ever again."
"Hey, we're going off topic! Where's my-"
"Shut up!"
Fuming, Kinji rushed toward Nara, attempting to use his heel to kick her skull off.
As Sasaki uses his sword to defend Nara, a shockwave goes through the room. With a struggle in his eyes, he turned to face Nara as Kinji temporarily retreated from Sasaki.
"Nara, let's make a deal."
"What?!"
"We both beat his ass and get out of here, and in exchange I'll help look for your dad!"
Nara looked at Sasaki with a baffled expression, with Kinji hearing Sasaki's proposition as he laughed insanely at the two.
"That's one hell of an offer! BAHAHAHA!
T-that's so HAHAHAHAHA! "
Sasaki looked at the Kinji with an annoyed look and formed a second sword using his bones.
"Choose Nara! The man who's clearly lying to you for years, or someone you can trust for years?!"
"And, just how do you plan on finding her father?"
"Uhm, well-"
"See! He doesn't even have a single idea of where he's located nor what he looks like!"
"Hey, at least I'm helping her for free instead of asking for five hundred million yen in exchange for a stupid location!"
"You don't seem to have anything left in that brain of yours after she knocked you out, don't you?"
"Argh, enough with this nonsense! Nara, choose now!"
Sasaki gathered his bones to create a sword and hurled it to the ground, all the while maintaining a wary expression and glaring at Nara.
He glanced at Kinji as well as Sasaki while maintaining a fixed gaze on the blade. She took up the sword and stepped behind Sasaki, raising her guard, her expression cynical.
"You made the right choice, Nara; now on my count, let's kill this bas-"
As Nara stabbed him in the back of the head, Sasaki stared at her with a stunned expression and a confused expression on his face. His sword protruded from his head, and his eyes were filled with perplexity.
"What the hell... Are you for real?!"
To be continued... ———————————