Legacy - The Butterfly Effect Arc

“Holy shit,” Bento gasped, putting his hand to his mouth. “That...that’s so brutal.”

A couple of hours had passed since Counter had stormed out of Jewels’s office. The young man had been true to his word, and had taken Bento and Sushi with him to Sensei’s home, where Katsu had just about escaped with his life. Counter’s hands were still trembling as he twisted the door knob and opened the front door. Walking down the corridor, Sushi took a deep breath as Counter put his hand on the creaky, oak door.

Pushing it open, the two men that hadn’t seen the body gasped in horror. The blood had begun to sink into the floorboards, dying the wood a dark crimson.

“The body is battered and bruised. It’s...full of stab wounds,” Sushi commented, putting his hand on his chin. “You think the kid was telling the truth, and it was the members of Toxicity?”

“It has to be,” Counter paused, getting down on his hands and knees, looking at the dead body on the ground. “Only they would have done something like this. They probably knew that Sensei was close to discovering everything. Their hideouts. Their identities. All he needed was more time...” Counter’s voice trailed off, putting his hand into the pool of blood.

“It’s so horrible,” Bento sighed, a tear rolling down his cheek. “His body has been brutalised...it seems like he was stabbed over one hundred times. Not only that, but it seems as if the body was beaten postmortem. This was a coordinated attack, and it was personal.” The young man gagged, coughing and spluttering at the sight.

“Do you want to leave for a moment, Bento?” Counter asked calmly.

“N-no, I can handle it...”

“Remember Bento, you are only fifteen years old. You don’t have to act cool,” Sushi put a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “Please, if you need to take a moment...”

“Fine!” Bento yelped, rushing out of the room. Sushi gave a small smirk, before dropping his smile almost immediately.

“You do realise you are only one year older than him, right?” Counter spoke up, turning his head and raising an eyebrow at Sushi.

“Well, you know how mature I act,” Sushi responded, fixing the collar on his shirt.

“Because you have Mommy and Daddy’s money and status. You have to be mature for all those wealthy politicians that come to your house!” Counter gave his own small smirk.

“Shut up!” Sushi sighed, putting his hand on his hip. “You know that I hate meeting all those kinds of people!”

“What, people with money?”

“Correct.”

“You know that I wouldn’t have taken you in if you were a snob, right?”

“I do...because Sensei would have been the same way,” Sushi took a breath, before crossing his arms. He looked down at Counter, who had now turned his head back to look back at his friend’s corpse. “It’s not your fault, Counter.”

“What gives you the impression that I think it is my fault?” Counter asked, not looking away. Sushi shook his head.

“I may not know you as well as Mach does, but I know what you are like. Besides, you said so back at base. You really are blaming yourself for this, aren’t you?” Counter did not respond to Sushi’s question. “Your silence tells me that I’m right.”

“The man worked hard, Sushi. This was the last thing he deserved...I don’t want to lose anyone else...” Counter spoke softly, as if trying to hold back some of his emotions.

“And you won’t. We have our family now, and we will protect it,” Sushi smiled. “We are going to continue his legacy, are we not?” Sushi walked around to face the man, and he reached an arm down to Counter. “Let us not let his death be in vain.”

Counter sighed heavily, before taking the young man’s hand, allowing himself to be pulled to his feet.

“Thank you, Sushi. Can you, just give me a moment with him?”

“Of course. I’m going to check on Bento. He looked like he was going to get sick!” With that, Sushi swiftly left the room, leaving Counter alone with the body. He looked down at the lifeless corpse, before saying one sentence to it.

“I will hunt the end of the world, and make those bastards pay, for you, Sensei.”

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“ARGHHH!”

A week had passed since the incident, and little Katsu jolted awake with a scream. He looked all around the room that he had woken up in. The bed had a very hard, uncomfortable mattress, and the bed sheets were a grimy white color, as if they had not been washed in months. Katsu coughed and spluttered as he looked at the walls. They seemed old and run down, with no plaster or painting on them. Just solid red bricks and cement in between, just as the same as the outside. Katsu felt his stomach, remembering the knife that had pierced him.

The bandages were still there, but the pain was nowhere near as bad as it was.

“Am I dreaming?” Katsu thought, before dismissing the question immediately. “Of course I’m not. Those men killed Dad and stabbed me in the stomach. Hemlock...Cyanide...Botulinum...Toxicity...it’s all such a blur...”

“Thank goodness! Katsu, you’re awake! You’ve been asleep for a week!” Bento walked up to the bed, smiling at Katsu, his chin was almost Katsu’s height in the bed. The boy must have been a few years older, but Katsu was almost taller.

“A week? W-who are you again?” Katsu trembled while asking that question. “Where is Counter?”

“I’m Bento!” the boy smiled. “If you ever have any injuries or boo boo’s, I’m your guy! As for Counter, he is preparing for the funeral...for your father. It starts in an hour. You are lucky you woke up just in time to repay your respects.”

Katsu’s face flushed, but then he looked down in despair. He had lost everything he had. He had no idea what to do or where to go. He was just a lost boy in an unfamiliar world.

“Are you alright, Katsu?” Bento asked, a concerned look appearing on his face.

“Yes, I think I am alright,” Katsu responded, getting out of the bed slowly. “Is it true my father is really gone?”

Bento looked down at the dirty, disgusting ground. He wasn’t good at helping ease people’s emotions. That was always Counter’s job. Nevertheless, Bento tried to sound cheerful, and decided to shift Katsu’s attention to somewhere else.

“Why don’t we take a look around? You are going to be here for a long time, so you might as well get comfortable! Follow me, Katsu!” Bento exclaimed cheerfully. “Can you move?”

“I think so,” Katsu said, slowly walking towards the door that led to the main rooms of the Survivalist base.