The fear to trust.

"Quite a rare occurrence"

As I mumble to myself still unfazed by the unusual silence between the two of us, I gaze upon the night sky which when illuminated by the stars reminds me of my one and only friend. Her full name is Mochizuki Hikari and among the ten or so children from our village, she was the only one I grew close to. As her parents must have meant, she was as bright as her name implied. 
Cheerful and caring, she would come knocking at everyone's door early in the morning to deliver mail with a smile as warm as the first rays of sunshine. At some point I even thought, if it's her perhaps she will be able to become the sun.
But she was still my neighbour's daughter at the time, and as such, she had no means to contest their decisions. Thus when January came, the month of her birthday, her thirteenth at the time, along with her family, she disapeared. My parents told me they moved overseas because of a job offer her father received, but never did I care about their reasons. What I wanted to know was why was it that I hadn't been told beforehand.
But as I grow up, I realise how thoughtless my anger was, I wouldn't have been able to do anything even If I knew, and I bet she felt just as powerless if not even more than me in this situation.
At least, deep inside me I hoped it was the case.

"Sorry to break this comfortable silence i'll make things quick; let me do the explanation about you being here with me and the fact you ventured around the entertainment area. I fear that no matter how you put it, it will only sound suspicious coming from you and I want to avoid her thinking I sent you there to check on her or something."

"Understood, I will leave it to you then."

"You're more docile than you look."

"I simply don't value my ego enough to try and hide my flaws. Plus in this case it does concern you as well and I believe you are perfectly fitting for the role."

"I can't tell either you think highly of me or if you look down on me but I'm not in the mood to pick a fight so I'll believe in the former."

                                                                                ______

When we met Shion-san, I could briefly catch a surprised look on her face before she let out a deep and uncharacteristic sigh followed by a slight grin like she came to understand what was going on. Then as we agreed on earlier, Hanami-san explained the situation herself. Once she was done, she asked her if there had been any earnings on her hand, to which Shion-san answered by showing the content of the suitcase she came back with. Three billion yens in total moving Hanami-san to tears. I had seen her laugh, but never to this extent.
The story behind such an absurd amount featured a young man bearing a family name well-known by the wealthy families from this city, which is Nagamine. Of course Hanami-san being no stranger to this knowledge offered us a quick explanation about her reaction, and we learnt that this family is known for their struggle in maintaining their legacy as well as them having a firm will towards ascending the social hierarchy. To this effect, Hanami-san figured they ultimately decided to send one of their sons to "the slums" to gather as much money as he can through gambling, which was the trigger for her laughter.

"Alright, when we are home everyone goes to bed and then I'll have a serious talk with Haruka. Once we are done, you are free to either go back to the dorms or seek shelter under my watch."

"What do you mean by that Hanami-san ?"

"Nothing less, you will eventually understand when you hear about the truth about this society."

"Ok but then what are your basis to consider I am worth protecting ? And what about trust ? Surely you would not take the risk to take me in when you know so little about me right ? So then what do you seek in return ?"

"Hold your horses, I am nothing so complicated. I don't say things twice because when I say something I mean it and more importantly, I've pondered the matter beforehand most of the time. But yeah it's true that I trust my guts a lot too. Anyway no matter how you ask me, I have nothing to ask of you in return for my protection so don't think too deep and decide. The quicker the safer i'd say."

"You can't tell me this is common sense, moreover I think you are being too careless around me. What would you do if I decided to go along with your suggestion and ended up betraying you ?"

"Haha, thank you for your concerns but you don't need to worry about me. First of all..."

While delaying the latter part of her sentence, she stopped the car and smoothly left her seat to go outside. Then after quietly closing her door, she moved towards the rear door leading to where I was seating which was at the opposite side of the automobile, and she did so in such an elegant fashion that I wondered if I was seeing her doppelgänger. However next thing I knew she opened my door and entered slowly, like a cat judging if it can trust the hand displayed in front of it. But then with a knee between by thighs and a hand on my cheek, she suddenly pressed a gun against my torso at the spot where she could most likely burst my heart and resumed what she was was saying.

"First of all, you don't have what it takes to harm me. And on the off-chan- WOAH ! .."

"What is it now ?"

"Lift your head clever boy."

And indeed the moment I reversed our positions and was above Hanami-san, I realised It was already checkmate. Shion-san was pointing a gun of her own at me and at the same time, Hanami-san was gripping my wrist so she could avoid me trying to use her to block a bullet.

"So as I was saying, on the off-chance you were able to overwhelm me, I am not alone."

"I see, but then what would happen if I took each of you on separately ?" 

"Give it up, you would not stand a chance. Or at the very least you'd be sure to get killed a hundred times over by the other one afterwards. In any case this would be suicide."

"Then that's my loss.. I figured you would have a weapon or two in store somewhere, but I thought you were the kind to use it as a last resort if pressuring and threatening did not work."

"I wish I could be like that truthfully, however in this world and especially in this city, you can't get away with threats alone. Which is why I have to steel myself and never hesitate to strike first when needed."

"By the way, in case you were wondering, Ojou-sama did not buy this limousine as a token of wealth, she figured if something like the current situation was to happen, having more room to move inside might prove useful to conceal weapons, traps, or simply to be able to fight back in case of emergency. To this effect, the whole car was made bulletproof as well."

"And here I thought people with money and influence could simply buy their way out of trouble, I was completely mistaken. As an apology and because I now begin to understand more about your situation, I want to ask you to take me under your protection. And I wish to be of help to the two of you."

"You are not entirely mistaken about this, with enough money one could either buy or form his own army, which could serve both as a dissuasive measure and as an offensive force.
Also, there is the possibility to trade money for a shelter behind someone else's walls. However needless to say which one is safer. Now about your resolution, I will ask you to reiterate after you hear more about this city, because you've got to remember I am the second most influencial household in this political scheme."


From this point on and until we reached "home", everyone fell silent. But this time around, compared to when it was solely Hanami-san and I, something akin to a tension felt lingering in the atmosphere. In regards to that sensation, I could not longer ignore the weight of their words.

                                                                             _______

"Hey wake up Haruka ! "

"Good morning Hanami-san, did you not sleep ?"

"Yeah morning, it's 4 PM and I have some business at the main estate later so hurry up and come in the living room so we can talk."

"Which means I slept for about 6 hours, the usual I guess."

At her command I got up and headed towards the bathroom to at least brush my teeth and then, not even putting my trousers on, joined her in the leaving room. She was sitting cross legged on the sofa with her usual pitch black suit pants and her white blouse loosened around the neck by three buttons. But farther in the background lied what definitely was an unusual sight in Shion-san half sitting by the window cigarette in hand.

"Oh yeah, this is the first time you've seen her like that huh. That's right I allow her to smoke here as long as she stands by the window, since I don't smoke myself.
What is it, are you shocked she doesn't stick to the image you maid  for yourself about her ?"

"Not at all, in fact seeing how much freedom you give her, only further confirms the veracity of what you told me earlier today. Which I am glad to witness so quickly."

"Ahhhhhhh !... Alright, alright, let's talk about more pressing issues rather, ok ?"

"What is it Hana ? Were you talking about me behind my back ? And in sweet manners at that ? I'm glad hehe."

"Hana ?"

"Urgh.. Ahh whatever fine, that's right Shion but don't even try to make me repeat any of that got it ? And yeah Haruka, usually when it's the two of us Shion calls me like that but you'd better bring that knowledge to your grave alright ?"

"Understood."

"Wow ! So you can smile when it comes naturally huh. Was worth being ridiculed for it."

I guess it really is that rare for me to show my emotions.. Hanami-san has been laughing and smiling around me for quite some time now but it has never made me smile in return. So why now ?

"It feels bad to cut down to the chase in this situation but I can no longer afford to delay this affair. Plus I have to be out soon enough as I said earlier."

"Yes."

"First of all I want to talk to you about the Academy in which you have been for the last five years. Have you ever wondered why there was only a single school in this fairly wide city?"

"Yes but I figured the reason for this was they wanted to regroup everything related to education in a single location to make the districts and areas stand out more from eachother  even if it meant the Academy would have to manage thousands of students."

"Well I can't say this doesn't make sense, so maybe there is that too. Now then let me ask you another question. Is there even a single student on the verge of dropping out from his grade as far as your knowledge goes ?"

"Obviously not, all teachers are doing supplementary classes constantly, we are all in charge of someone from the grade under ours which means upperclassmen take care of us too. And tests are only meant as a basis for the teachers to know whether they can move on to another subject or if they need to spend more time on the current one."

"That's right, in fact they want you to evolve in the best possible environment. To this effect they decided not to rely on competition, which is why there is no other school in this city. They most likely figured that adversity and competition through tests and sport could indeed be beneficial for a specific amount of people but not the vast majority. Hence why the outcome of your tests are harmless to you regardless of your results."

"I understand what you mean, but why do you make it sound like it is a bad thing ?"

"Truth is there are people who can't bring themselves to grow up in that kind of environment. And what do you think they can do ?" 

"Good question, maybe work at home ?"

"And have you ever heard of anyone like that  ?"

"Never.."

"Yeah, that is not a possibility. In fact didn't you think some people looked way too young to  hang around the entertainment district you visited last night ?"

That is true, when I left the casino where Shion-san was, out of curiosity I entered a bunch of places and there I was met by a strange sight. Indeed a lot of people if not most of them looked to be of my age, sometimes younger, sometimes older, which left me thinking I overestimated the whole area when I thought It was reserved for adults and that it could be dangerous in that regard. But then there was Hanami-san's emphasis on that very word, plus Shion-san coming back with that huge amount of money later. What exactly is that place ?

"Judging from your silence I imagine you started realizing what I'm about to uncover for you.
The entertainment district, the same one I called "the slums" earlier, is where those who want competition or freedom make a living."

"But how is that legal ? Surely the authorities will know about it sooner or later and come stripping them from their earnings if not their lives, putting them in jail right ?"

"Listen. Remember that guy who laughed at you when you talked about calling the cops ? 
That's what it means. None cares about what happens by the second or third district. Truth is I dropped from the Academy myself. I couldn't bear that atmosphere, it felt suffocating. Luckily if I can say so myself, it was around the time I inherited the throne on top of my family business. But I could have ended up selling this body to the likes of whoever brought the most bills."

"Surely this is not all there is to it right ? There must be "safer" jobs or activities to do, like waiter/waitress in restaurants, opening a business etc."

"Yeah sure there are. As long as you can pay for them that is."

"..."

"Let's say you want to open your flower shop. You've got to pay for a place you will rent until you can buy it, and then you have to buy the seeds if you want to make those grow yourself, right ? Which means you start with a debt. So to avoid all these problems when you are not rich, you have to work elswhere to gather some funds, and it needs to be "safe" as you said. That's how you end up like your pal Tanabe. You have the gun so you are safe and you earn money at the same time, wonderful isn't it ?"

"Stop joking, you know what I meant."

"Yeah but I'm not joking, it's either you have enough money to order people around, or you dirty your hands. That's the reality of this city. But the dirtiest in all that carnage doesn't even lie here."

"What do you mean ?"

"Surely there are people who drop out from the academy but can't bring themselves to dirty their hands right ?"

"Do they kill them ?" 

"Oh no that would be a waste. They use them. They lead these people to believe they are the chosen ones, those whose hearts are unwavering and are the few with the capability to push this town to higher heights. Like that they are lured in the underground levels of the tower and while promising them a bright future they transform these people into subjects of a large experiment from which they can no longer escape."

"And what about that experiment ?"

"Unfortunately I can only speculate about what it is for now so I'd rather not elaborate any further. However I plan on buying my way in in the future. But now is not the appropriate timing."

"I see.." 

"Alright hitting the iron while it's hot, now tell me. Do you want to come under my protection or do you want to keep living on your own ?"

"I assume the reason why you warned me earlier by reminding me you were one of the most influencial Name in this city, was a mean to tell me I was free to believe you have this much information to disclose to me a total stranger, as well as that you could very much be one of the accomplices of those managing this horror, am I right ?"

"Yes, and worry not I swear on my name I will not cause you any harm if you want to leave, and neither will I pursue you or keep you on watch later. At least as long as you don't try to interfere with my plans in stopping that mayhem."

"I don't know. Thus I want to try and make a deal. Allow me to stay here for a month and I shall give my answer by then."

"I see so then if I wanted to trick you or use you I'd have to refrain for at least a month and that would also allow you to have plenty of time to tell whoever you want from outside, since I swore to let you move around freely. I like it, you are being cautious but you show your interest and your guts nevertheless. But what do I gain from it ?"

"You have complete control over my whereabouts for a month, and I imagine it would be easy to catch me If I fled anyway. However even if you wanted to, you can't conceal me between these walls since I know where you hide some of your weapons."

"Not bad, let's go with that. We have an agreement."

"That settles it then."