The Story of Katsu Aikawa (Part III) - The Butterfly Effect Arc

Katsu ran home with a hop and bounce in his step. The young boy couldn’t wait to tell his father about how behaved he was. If he kept this up, he would have a whole tub of ice-cream to devour at the end of the week! That was something he was looking forward to. He often never had the chance to eat such delectable treats, as his father only made enough money to keep a roof over their head.

However, just as young Katsu got to the door, he froze.

The aura of the house felt different. Usually, it felt welcoming and comforting. Now, it felt as if something was wrong. The clouds had turned into a horrible, depressing grey color, and the wind was beginning to pick up. The front door was wide open, allowing anyone to step inside.

Something was so very wrong.

The young boy dropped his bag at the gate, swung open the metal bars, and dashed inside the house as fast as he could. When he reached the front door, he gagged and put his hands on his nose. It smelt horrendous. His father always had the house smelling perfect. Katsu had never smelt this smell before, but he recognised it.

He kneeled down and put his hands on the hard, oak floorboards. There was some sort of red liquid covering the whole corridor. Katsu looked at his hands. The liquid was stained to his hands. It looked like blood.

Blood...

Katsu began breathing heavily. Whose blood was this? He had to find out. Being a young child, there was no strategies made on the spot by Katsu. The young boy dashed towards the kitchen, where the blood trail was leading. He burst through the door...

“Dad!” he screamed, but it was too late.

Ten men surrounded Katsu’s father. Katsu couldn’t see any of their faces, but they all wore the same, disgusting green robes. It was as if some cult had formed in the kitchen of Katsu’s family home. His father was on the floor, wallowing in a pool of his own blood. The man barely had minutes of life left. One of the men turned around to face the sound of the door. Although Katsu couldn’t see the man’s face, he could notice a wild grin appearing in the shadow of the hood of the robe.

“Oi, it’s his little rat,” the man spoke in a cold, soft voice, as if it were filled to the brim with hatred and disgust. Katsu fell backwards. He made a sudden realisation as he hit the floor. All the men were carrying big, long kitchen knives, all coated in dark, crimson red blood.

The man walked slowly towards him. He was in no rush. The boy was going nowhere.

“D-Dad! Please! H-Help me!” the boy cried out. He had never been so scared in his entire life. Why was this happening to him? He always tried to behave, and he never tried causing trouble. He avoided people just to avoid confrontation. Who were these men? His father never would go out of his way to upset anyone.

“S-son...RUN!” Katsu’s father tried to yell, but all he could manage was coughing up his own blood. The crimson liquid spewed down his cheeks. He knew he only had a minute to breath, if even.

The man got closer and closer to Katsu. The child finally managed to pluck up enough courage to dash for the kitchen door, but it was way too late. Sweat beaded down the boy’s face. He couldn’t breathe. The adrenaline that had only now kicked in was the only reason he was running. He couldn’t do anything. Did these men come because of him? He couldn’t even protect his father.

“I’m sorry Dad!” the boy cried. “I’m so scared! I’m so sorry you had a son like me!”

Katsu tumbled to the ground. He hadn’t even felt the throwing knife enter the back of his left leg. His hamstring clenched up as he yelped in pain. The boy, now scared for his life, tried to back up to the door, but he couldn’t make it. The man grabbed him by the hair and threw him aggressively towards the other nine men.

“Nice throwing, Hemlock,” one of the men laughed, cackling like a hyena. “I love seeing that boy so helpless. Is this hurting you, Sensei?”

“Urgh...f*ck you,” Katsu’s father spoke as he spat in the man’s face. The hooded man rubbed his eyes, trying to get the spit and blood out.

“You bastard! I’ll kill you!” the now fuming man put a knife to Katsu’s father’s neck.

“Now, now, Cyanide,” one of the men spoke. “You can stop now. You will have the last laugh.”

This man had a different presence than the rest of them. While the rest of them were grinning from ear to ear, he was calm. Collected. The man had a mission, and it was completed. He leaned down to the dying man’s ear and whispered softly.

“You should never have come after us, Sensei,” the male voice went back to a normal volume. “Cyanide, kill the kid.”

“N-No! Stop! I’ll...dammit!” Katsu’s father coughed up more blood as the light began fading from his eyes. “S-Son! I’m s-sorry! This isn’t your fault!” He knew that there was nothing he could do. Any threat to the men would be empty.

The man who was called Cyanide regained the grin on his face as he stomped over to Katsu, holding his kitchen knife. The blade was coated dark crimson, but yet the metal still seemed to gleam in his gross hand, as if the knife was just excited as he was. The little boy yelled out, but his scream was cut short as the knife was slammed into his stomach. He began passing out, the darkness taking over his vision. The voices began to fade away.

“Good job, Cyanide. Now get over here. Let Sensei watch his little rat die a gruesome death.”

“Thank you for that.”

“It’s no issue whatsoever. Besides, it’s the least this scheming frog deserves.”

“S-Shut u-up! Y-You are destroying J-Japan! ARGHHH!”

“We don’t think so, Sensei. Besides, it was you who tried to find out who and what we really are. All you needed to know is that we were Toxicity, and that you should have stayed the hell away. Cyanide? Be a good boy and kick the boy’s head in.”

“D-Dammit! No!”

The man walked over to Katsu, thoroughly enjoying himself. The little boy only heard one more sentence just as he was kicked into unconsciousness, spoken by Cyanide.

“Thank you, Botulinum. Night night, you little rodent.”

The room went silent. He didn’t know how much time had passed, but eventually, another voice was heard later, a voice similar to Counter’s.

“Sensei? Are you...oh my God...oh...No! Shit! Sensei!...Oh my...is this...oh little Katsu...huh...you’re still breathing?! I can...don’t worry, I got you....”

Katsu shook his head in the present day.

“That’s the last thing I remember, I’m sorry, Counter,” the boy whispered. He looked up at the man, but his skin had now gone pale white, and his friendly demeanor was lost.

“D-Did you say they wore green, hooded robes?”