Chapter 6: Things are getting complicated

The night Ryohei took the sword from Kaiji he took it to his private training room that he now used for storage. When he would train with Kaiji they could train in the Zen garden outside. He couldn't bring himself to clean up the arena. The memories shared just brought him misery every time he walked in. And to think Kaiji would sneak in to steal his swords completely unaware of their emotional significance, it frustrated him beyond belief. The torment taking over him, he began to weep. Himiko, his wife, saw him and shuffled through the boxes to comfort him. She rested her forehead on his back. “You carry so much weight still. Even to this day, you haven’t let go.”

“How could I possibly- How could I possibly forget all that happened?”

“It's not a matter of forgetting Ryohei, it's a matter of accepting. It's a matter of moving forward and letting go”

He listened to his wife’s words. He understood them, but something inside of him didn't let him move on. Something that kept gnawing at him every day. ‘what could I have done’ ‘how could I have prevented this’

“I understand…” he let out a sigh and wiped away his tears. “but I just can’t accept that he’s dead. Something tells me he’s still out there”

She looked at the swords “if he’s still alive out there after all this time, He’s no longer the boy we once knew.”

She took the blade out from its scabbard and looked at the unique pattern that emerged during the creation of every katana ever made.

“After years in the underworld, what comes back…” she quickly drew the blade pointing it at the training doll “might not even be recognizable. There’s no telling what wickedness will come back in the shape of that boy. If he does comeback, it will likely be as an enemy”

Then she swiped at the doll with speed surpassing Kaiji’s’ slicing the doll's stomach region open, she let the granular stuffing pour down onto the ground. She sheathed the blade and placed it next to her husband and walked out of the room.

Chapter six:

The next day Kaiji wakes up early for once to make time to talk to his classmates and get them to tell him potential rumors. But as soon as he goes around the corner from his house, he’s met with an ocean of people. Even more so than usual. “What is this? What’s going on?” he mutters to himself. The people are almost trampling over each other and resembled more a random assortment of body parts than a crowd of people. “Why is everyone going so crazy? Did something happen?”

He runs through the back alleys and between houses to try to out maneuver the crowd, but around every corner, there’s another ocean of people. The task seems almost hopeless. “So much for getting to school early” he says. And that's when he notices a familiar face. The black long hair nearly reaching her bag with a blue bomber keychain, it was Kairi! And she was holding her money in her hand seaming desperate for something. He yelled out “Kairiiii!”

She looked over and saw him waving at her. “Kaijiiii!” Her face lit up and she waved him over.

“What are you doing here? we’re gonna be late, classes start in 20 minutes!” Kaiji said

“Whoa it’s not like you to be worried about the time” Kairi responded

“Yeah well sometimes you have to do things you don't like to get a desired result. Now c’mon let’s go!”

“Um hold on Kaiji I don't think getting late is going to be a problem today”

“What do you mean?” Kaiji said

She pointed out at someone in the line ahead of him.

Kaiji turned his head to look and what he saw gave him more of a shock to his senses than any ghost ever could.

“Is that… Mr. TANAKA?!”

“Not only that, the entire school faculty is there with him”

Kaiji was stupefied

“What is this? What’s going on?”

at that moment someone from behind the line started yelling out

“hey pal, if you wanna buy something you've gotta start at the back of the line!”

“He’s with me! Back off!” Kairi yelled back

“now, now, don't you worry there is more than enough for everyone, just be patient” a child with a megaphone assured “but if you keep causing a racket, we'll blacklist you for life. So keep it down!”

and just like that, the man got back in line and kept his mouth shut.

The girl walked back and forth patrolling the line making sure everything was kept in order.

Kaiji looked and saw she was wearing a red armband with a familiar black symbol. He recognized it from a poster in his school's science lab; it was the biohazard symbol.

“Kairi, do you have any idea what’s going on?” Kaiji finally asked

“Wait, you don't know about the plague?”

“The plague? What plague?”

“Everyone is talking about it online how the plague is sweeping through the nation”

“Should I get a vaccine?”

Kairi looked at him confused for a moment. Then she laughed.

“Oh hun, it’s not that kind of plague. It's a joke people made online that caught on and spread like wildfire. The joke is that when they come to a city, it’s like everything is put on hold; Schools close, the government shuts down. The work day comes to a screeching halt because everyone is out trying to get a ‘taste of heaven’ or so that's what people are saying”

“a taste of heaven?” Kaiji was getting worried this had something to do with spirit world

“cookies, brownies, they sell all kinds of confections. But there’s something about them that just takes it into the stratosphere.”

“Okay, but I still don't understand why it’s called the plague”

a boy in front of Kairi in the line cut in “it’s actually a reference to a politicians furious rant on how absurd their popularity had become. He said it was ridiculous for the city to stand still just to buy some sweets, he said they were a plague to society as a whole. But rather than waning their popularity by publicly denouncing the group, all he did was give them a catchy name that only fanned the flame to their growth. A perverse result if you ask me.”

“well I guess that explains it then” Kaiji said

“Hey, you look familiar, do I know you?” Kairi asked

“I wouldn't expect you to. I’m Ryuji. I’m a first year student. But we go to the same school”

“I can’t remember where but I feel like I remember you from somewhere” she said

The three started talking up a storm to pass the time. As the line crawled on, they started seeing booths with t-shirts, pins, mugs, buttons, pencils, notebooks, bags and all kinds of merchandise with bold bright letters saying phrases like “the plague made me late” or “I was a victim to the plague” and the most sought after of them all “I was there when the plague hit ______'' with the name of the respective city. Ryuji along with Kairi explained to Kaiji that after the name had taken off the leaders of the group thought up a brilliant marketing scheme. Since the lines went on for so long and snaked around city streets, corners, and parks, why not set up different booths along the way so that people can entertain themselves shopping while they wait. Kairi couldn't resist the temptation and bought the t-shirt that had Kyokais’ name filling in the blank. And Kaiji to make himself feel better for waking up early got the t-shirt that said “the plague made me late” Ryuji bought a pin that said “plague victim” and then they year and place. As the group waited they went through the booths like a consumeristic conveyor belt buying up all kinds of snacks and knickknacks along the way, it was almost impossible not to get wrapped up in the infectious festive spirit of it all. The wait became less of a chore and more of a buildup of anticipation; Delayed gratification and whatnot. And since everyone was on the same hype train, it gave a sense of camaraderie to those who stuck it out till the end. And it was absolutely impossible to not be charmed by the little girls organizing and bossing everyone around. Putting grown men in their place when they stepped out of line.

“they say that the girls working for the plague today, are the next generation of top CEOs and entrepreneurs” Ryuji said

It was basically a business savvy fundraising coalition for the economical and professional growth of young women. Through the organization, girls from all across the country can travel, and gain hands-on experience working in retail, fundraisers, festivals, glorified bake sales such as these, and all at the tender age of 12.

“Here you go, thank you for your patronage” the cashier said to the customer that had finally gotten their sweets after hours of waiting. It was Kaiji's group's turn. At this point, between all of them, they had bought t-shirts, pins, mugs, snacks, and even lunch, but finally, it was time for dessert. “Which would you prefer: a cookie, or a brownie?”

“I would like a cookie please” said Ryuji

“I’ll have the brownie” said Kaiji

“I’d like the brownie too please” said Kairi

Another girl went and grabbed three sealed bags from a box and handed them to the cashier.

“Here you go, thank you for your patronage”

The three grabbed their bags and gleefully made their way to the school where all the students and faculty were congregating to eat the sweets they've been waiting for all day. That's where they found Ben sitting on the bleachers in front of the basketball court

“hey, I can only imagine where you guys have been.” said ben

“is it that obvious?” said Kairi

“Hey Ben, this is Ryuji we met at the line and we’ve been talking up a storm all day” said Kaiji

“Nice to meet you Ryuji, call me Ben”

“I’m glad I met you guys” he said as he scanned the school yard. His eyes darted around back and forth as if he was looking for something… or someone. He finally said “but I should really get going, I’m not good with wide open spaces.”

“wide open spaces? What do you-” but before Ben could finish asking the question a voice shouted out from a distance

“RYUJIIIII!!!”

Ryuji jumped as he knew what was coming. Erik, who had been basically mugging him for weeks, had come to collect. Erik was a second year captain of the football team on account of just how bulky he was for his age. At 16 he weighed 250 pounds of pure muscle.

“Hey Erik '' Ryuji said, attempting to hide the cookie he'd spent all day trying to get.

“There's no point in hiding it, I already saw you walk out with that cookie from the bake sale. Hand it over”

“What? Wait… oh… no...” Kairi had just remembered where she saw Ryuji. She had seen him getting pushed around a couple of times after school.

“what? No! you can’t do that!” Ryuji protested

“sure I can, unless you wanna get your face pummeled, you’ll hand it over” he held out his hand

“Hey Erik, why don't you go steal back your missing chromosome? I think you left it in the science lab” said Ben

“back off Benjamin this has nothing to do with you” Erik said

“I don't care if it doesn't! Now, you can stand to lose a couple pounds so why don't you leave the kid alone?” he replied.

“It's okay guys, it's fine, don't worry, I didn't even want it anyway” and then he reaches over to give him the bag with the cookie. But Kaiji stopped him.

“No. it’s yours. Not his” Kaiji said, shaking, fuming even, everything about Erik pissed him off. The attitude, the remarks, the confidence that no one can stop him as he prayed on those that can’t defend themselves. It reminded him of the demons that he’d grown accustomed to fighting. And it disgusted him that it was people like him he was saving. But in all his rage all he could muster to say was “get out of here.”

“What did you say to me?” Erik said

“Did I stutter? I said get your parasite ass out of my face!”

“You know, you've got a big mouth, let’s shrink it.” Erik then swings one of his massive arms to slam Kaiji in the face but to him it's nothing. He could read his movements from a mile away. And after training in both the real world and spirit world, Erik was in no position to be a threat. So Kaiji moved out of the way and then went in and grabbed Erik by the collar. Erik didn't even know what happened, one second he was at arm’s reach, then the next he was all up in his face.

“Now, I’ll say this only once” as he spoke Erik’s feet started to feel lighter, then they started hovering over the ground as Kaiji lifted him up into the air “get out of here and don't come back!”

He then let go of him and Erik fell on his ass, stunned. Ryuji was also stunned, everyone was stunned. Kaiji had seemingly lifted a 250 pound man like it was nothing and threw him on his ass. Ryuji would never forget this moment, it would shape the way he thought about power for years to come. To get rid of bullies you needed to show them an overwhelming display of power to show them who’s boss. That’s the only language these animals can speak. Only then, will they leave you alone. Kaiji had inadvertently changed his new found friend in a way that would only prove more trouble down the line. A zero sum game only has one winner. And Kaiji had shown that it was him. Erik realized his cards were showing, so he quickly got up and put the mask of bravado back on “whatever, shit tastes like dirt anyway” and then he walked off. He didn't exactly know what happened, or how, but he didn't want to look like more of a fool than he already was.

“Kaiji…” Kairi said “what was that”

Kaiji’s mean look and nasty aura snapped away as he came to his senses

“what was what?” he asked

“What do you mean ‘what was what?’ you just lifted that guy right off the ground?!” Ben said

Kaiji was so swept up in his emotions that he didn't realize he’d lost control.

“I don't know, I saw how Ryuji was being pushed around and I got so mad I kind of just blacked out”

“blacked out? you mean you lost control?” Kairi asked

“I don't know, maybe”

Ryuji was unwrapping the bag with haste

“here Kaiji! I want you to have it! that guys been bugging me for weeks and thanks to you he’s not gonna mess with me again” he said

Kaiji waved his hands in front of his generous offer “hey ho hey no way man, this is yours! I don't want it.” he said

Ryuji looked down at his cookie “well at least let me give you a piece” then he grabbed the chocolate biscuit and cracked off a chunk pulled on Kaiji's hand and placed it in it.

Kaiji looked at the cookie, then back at Ryuji. Then he let out a big sigh. “alright then, cheers!” and they clinked cookies

“oh my god, in all the excitement I completely forgot about our snacks” said Kairi

“i've been waiting for you guys to take my first bite” said Ben

“alright, on three.” Said Kaiji

“1…2…3!” they all said in unison just before chomping down on their handmade confections.

They all stood around in silence for a moment as they absorbed the flavor. They then exploded in excitement

“WHAAAAAOOOO THIS IS THE GREATEST COOKIE EVER!!!” Said Kaiji

“IT'S LIKE A PIECE OF HEAVEN MELTED IN MY MOUTH” Said Kairi

“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but do you guys wanna get in line again?” said Ben

“I would take a THOUSAND wedgies just to be able to taste this again” said Ryuji

miraculously, the wait had paid off, how was it possible for it to live up to the hype after building it up for hours? The truth is, the sweets were delicious, put into a competition they would be the tastiest. but arguably weren’t worth the hours of wait time. But after all the countless praise and hours of waiting, when you finally bit down, all of those expectations elevated the already great dessert into S tier levels of deliciousness. In psychology, the phenomenon is called Cognitive Reframing. In simple words the way people talk about something, affects the way you look at it. If you're gullible and someone tells you this thing is the greatest thing ever, there is a higher chance you’re going to agree after you try it for yourself. If you're a skeptic you’ll be prone to be more critical of something the more praise it gets. That's where arguments of “this thing is overhyped” and “this thing is underrated” stem from. From a bunch of contrarians giving the opinion they see aren’t often spoken.

Although, in spite of all that, It was impossible to resist the charm of the plague, the sense of comradery all the way to the very end, the sense of were all in this together, and being a part of something that took over your entire city for a day, when you finally bite into that delicious cookie and or brownie, all of those positive feelings get amplified, then projected onto the the already delicious treat. The plague wasn't magic, the plague members weren't master bakers, they were masters in psychology. All of it, the lines, the waiting, the hype, the reward, and invariable praise afterwards, it was all a trick of the mind.

So although it might sound a little cliché, in truth, it was never about the cookies or the brownies, it was about the friends we made along the way. That and 500 tons of serotonin aerosol being fanned at the line members to keep them in a good mood all day. but that's a story for another time.

“oh! Kaiji before I forget there was a rumor I heard that I thought you would like.” Said kairi

Kaiji's ears perked up “a rumor? What kind of rumor?”