The calm and the storm.

"Introduce yourself."

"Usually you have to do so yourself before asking for someone else's name."

"Hmm..You may be right. Then let's say "Your sword of Damocles". You catch my drift ?"

"Tch  The name's Junpei."

"..."

"Igarashi Junpei, from the former city of Aomori."

"Very well. So what do you need from me ? I assume that you did not come all the way up here because you were lost, hm ?"

"Hire me."

"Hold it guys ! Do not let the attitude of this young thug get at you. He may not be docile as of yet, but he is still in no position to counter attack. So at the very least allow him to bark while he still can."

"..."

"Then let us get back on track. You want me to hire you, but do you even know what it means to work for me ?"

"I don't care if I have to dirty my hands if it means I get to fulfill my goal faster."

"Oh my, such bold statement. What makes you think I should hire you above someone else ?"

"You won't just find another one as determined as me. And outside of my duty you can use me to obtain whatever you'd like from this city."

"Quite promising indeed. It is certainly not up to anyone to break into my faculty barehanded and then to make it to me unscathed."

"Does that mean we have a dea-"

"Rejected. Throw him outside."

"HEY WHAT DO YOU MEAN ?! OI UNTIE ME SO I CAN STRANGLE THAT FOUR EYES !"

"See ? That animosity is what I do not want to deal with. All of my subordinates are very sweet and obedient. I do not have the time to try and tame you."

My vision is getting blurry dammit.. Guess I won't have the choice.. Will have to rely on that chick again...

                                                                             _____

"Hellooo wakey wakey !"

"Huh ?"

"You have the eyes of someone who's craving for power, Igarashi Junpei-kun. I like that. However you are way too weak at the moment, which truly is a shame hm ?"

What's with all these psychos today. And outside of that girl, they all have the same manners, what's wrong with them ? 
Anyway I think this is finally my chance. If I'm not mistaken this guy must be the leader of that clan. And if that is the case I'll thank his corpse for letting the wolf into the fold.

"May I ask you where I am ? And why I am being restrained ?"

Once again that is.

"My ! Sorry little lamb, I started talking but forgot to release you from that gadget. There you go."

"Thank you."

"Would you like some tea ? An energy drink? Or a cocktail maybe ?"

"Anything you recommend."

"Oh what a gentleman.. Then allow me to order for you."

"Please do."

If I am here right after being thrown out of that lab, it cannot be a coincidence. However I heard there were a lot of struggle for power in the leading clan and even between the underlings, so If I can get on the good side of this guy by providing him a dissuasive measure to help keep the people looking for the throne away, it will give me more than a few opportunities to have his head. 
And then after reforming his clan and that bunch of degenerates under his command, I'll make someone trustworthy the next emperor or whatever they'll be called in case we end up changing the whole system.

"There please have a taste."

"Thank you."

It doesn't smell fishy but it might contain a poison or a sedative, although I won't earn his trust if I hesitate. Shit, down it goes ! 

"Wait a minute if you will."

"Hm ?"

"Excuse my rudeness, I did not take your situation into consideration."

"What do you mean ?"

"I should have done that right from the start. Danny ! Please open another bottle of each syrup and alcohol you used to make that cocktail, and I want you to prepare it in front of us this time."

"Excuse me, but you don't need to bother so much for me. It is true that I just awakened after I was apparently kidnapped, but you have been treating me well enough and since you set me free, I wouldn't want to be as cold as to doubt a drink you serve me."

"I appreciate your politeness however I make a point of treating my guests with utmost respect. If you permit me to say, when I see an handsome young man such as yourself, it gives me all the more reasons to put the effort to make sure you are having a relaxing time accompanying me."

This guy is definitely bad news. I can't tell whether he tries to intimidate me, make me indebted to him or if he's trying to seduce me. I'll have to cut down to the chase quickly before he overwhelms me.

"Then I will gladly accept your offer."

"Then once again, allow me to ask you to have a taste."

"Delightful indeed."

"I am most grateful for your kind words."

"Those are my honest thoughts. And on another note, may I ask you what time and date it is ? "

"Certainly. Danny ! Are they done ?"

"They are, my lord. I will retrieve it right away."



"Sorry to make you wait Junpei-kun, I took the liberty to send your watch to someone capable of fixing it, while you were unconscious. It seems that it took great damages where you were held captive."

"Sorry for causing more trouble to you, and thank you very much I owe you one. How much do you want ? "

"No no no, I do not want your money my dear. Imagine if I, Minamoto Hideyoshi emperor of this wonderful country and city, was to make you pay for something as trivial as a watch when you have been abducted in the very city I should have my eyes on constantly. What kind of person would that make me ? "

"I mean, you apologized enough just now and I believe the way you treated me so far is more than enough for me, so I wouldn't want to ask any more of you."

"How majestic.. Will you allow me to ask you where you are working at the moment ? And where you live ? If possible I would like to further express my apologies by providing you the shelter you deserve."

"This is a little difficult to say, as actually I do not have anything to call a job nor do I have an apartment to call my own, let alone a house."

"Oh how rude of me to ask so casually.. May you forgive me."

"Of course, please raise your head ! "

"Thank you. That being said I am glad I asked since it would have been a greater shame to have let you leave to see you go back to this painful everyday life you must have had to endure up until now. May I ask you if there is any kind of job or activity you are looking for ? "

"Thank you very much. However I do not know myself what to do. I have some experience as bodyguard and handyman but I doubt to find my place with these qualifications in a city this  advanced in terms of security and technology."

"Please do not say such things. I cannot hire you as my personnal bodyguard for obvious reasons, yet. But allow me to recommend you to the house in charge of forming the maids and butlers of my, and the most prestigious households from this city. The Ashikaga house."

"This is more than I could have ever wished for. Thank you very much for this opportunity, I will be careful not to bring shame to your name or the Ashikagas."

"You are way too humble. I will bring you a change of clothes and prepare you a driver to lead you to their house, please wait in this room for a little longer."

This is not what I expected and I can't say I know who he's talking about with "Ashikaga", but If this gives me the opportunity to earn some money and to remain not too far from him, I take it with open arms.

"Your driver is here, please come down to the ground floor."

"Thank you very much."

                                                                                ______

May 13, 2060 - Fukuoka 3rd District - 10:00 pm, The same day.


"Hello Ojou?"

"What's up Shion ? What's all the whispering about ?"

"I should be taking care of our guests' desserts at the moment but if I tried to contact you later, then you would be asleep by that time."

"Don't worry about that, I can wait for two or thee hours for you to be done."

"No you can't. I won't allow you to sacrifice those precious hours of rest just because I am not here."

"Hahaha, sorry mom. So what is it that makes you take so much risks to come in contact with me at such a difficult timing ?"

"Yes, so I received a call from Minamoto Hideyoshi's butler. He informed me of a young man on his way to this estate. I learnt that he was exclusively recommended by Minamoto-sama and would serve as the estate's head's bodyguard."

"Ok and do we have his name ?"

"Igarashi Junpei."

"Hmm So that's the path you're gonna take huh.."

"Hana ?"

"Sorry don't mind it. Anyway I understand, please keep a close eye on him and his movements and report to me anything you deem relevant until I ask you otherwise."

"Understood. Then If you'll excuse me."

"Good luck with your work, come back to us soon."

"I will."


May 15, 2060 - Fukuoka, 3rd District somewhere in the Stella Academy - 11:15 am.


"Hoshizora-san ?"

"Sorry Sekiguchi-sensei, It seems like approaching lunch time has me daydreaming today, I doubt my capacity to be able to focus like this."

"Understood. We have been able to go through the entire chapter in maths and we were able to cover most of the English lesson from the day you were absent, it should be fine for this session."

"Sorry and thank you very much again today sensei."

"You don't need to thank me, I am doing my job nothing more. However If this is okay with you, would you mind telling me why you suddenly requested supplementary lessons ? I believe you are one of the brightest studen in your year if not the top, and this much work should not cause you any trouble usually."

"Lately I have been bothered by a lot of things and these things have me wondering about my view and my interpretation of the world around me. In short I have a lot of unanswered questions in my head at the moment and I begin to have mixed feelings about some of the people I care about the most, which worries me."

"Learning to see or imagine the people close to you with a fresh eye, and trying to accept them for what they could be that is different from what you thought you knew, must certainly come with its share of anxiety. But the fact that you are willing to accept those questions and worries, proves that you are willing to fight for yourself and those people you care about. And I think that is important to realize."

"You may be right, however it also feels like the world I thought I started to understand might not be even close to what it is actually like, and even what it has been all this time. Which are by far the scariest thoughts I have at the moment."

"May I give you my opinion ?"

"Yes I would like to hear it please."

"Understood. Then, what you have to keep in mind from my point of view, is that no matter how true something or someone feels to you, there will be someone else to think otherwise. Objectivity is an ideal and is unrealistic. Each one of us is bound to be subjective in his thoughts and actions. That is to say that even if you come close to what you will call "truth", it will only be the case for a handful of people. There are truths billions of people are ready to call as such, however there will always be people to think, by convictions, foolishness, ill will, education; that these facts are devoid of sense."

"And we are constantly changing and looking for our ideals in terms of values, appearances, goals, partners. So it makes too little sense to worry so much about what is changing around us and what could be changing in the future. I see."

"Your conclusion feels a bit harsh to me, but you are on the right track for what I was trying to say."

"I see. Thank you sensei, talking to you even without going into details about the people involved in my worries truly helped me see things with more clarity I believe. At least I was able to take a step back and see things with a greater angle."

"I am glad to hear as much. If you ever feel like talking about something unrelated to school and you are looking for someone that is not involved in your situation, feel free to come to me."

"Thank you."