Shadows of Hell Part 1

This was supposed to be a new page for me, but it seems that page had been set alight the moment it had started to be written. Haru’s out cold….Hayato is barely in it, and where am I right now.

Fundamental rule of warfare…. ‘Control the battlefield, don’t let it control you'. And it’s only then you will be able to stand out as a fighter, but right now, we don't have control over anything.

I froze, not knowing what to do. The sound of my deep breaths drowning out everything, including Tatsuo’s screams while running towards me

….How did we manage to mess this up this badly

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‘Eight hours ago’

The central square of Lower Helios….it’s funny to think that the last time I was here, I was with a completely different group

“How long have you guys been here for?” Tatsuo asked me and Haru who were waiting.

“A few minutes, give or take…And besides, I thought the PvE players come out at night.” I answered

“Who said we are going to be taking on the boss in the morning.”

“Eh?”

“We still have a few things left to do… Dungeon scouting, role deciding and gearing up. Night rules start at 5, so we hit the boss then. Besides, kids would be asleep at that time so ....makes it safer.”

Tatsuo brings up the quest on his interface and puts it up for us to see

“You sure this is a good idea? There are other people around us you know”

“Relax, only people in our clan can see this, anyways. Got ourselves this one. High RP and Rel payout, but according to the receptionist, this one has wiped a few clans out by itself.”

“And we are starting off with this one…why?” I inquire

“Noone is touching it….and a few clan wipes under that contract usually means a multiplied payout”

“Aaand…we won’t get wiped in the process?”

“It’s a bronze tier world boss…we struggle here, we truly have no hope.…I’m sure that it’s because players are not used to how the raid bosses work in here, and besides, with the group we got here, there is nothing we can’t beat with the- ” And Hayato knew exactly where that was leading to, and smacked him in the back of his head

“You are doing it again” Hayato lets him know

“Anyways, back to it. Boss is said to be humanoid, they usually have hard hitting but predictable attacks, and considering this a bronze boss, it’s going to be extremely slow and attacks will be heavily telegraphed. I’ll be up front, absorbing most of the damage. Mano-san, Haru-san…you two are our main sources of damage, I’ll create space for you to work and you just keep attacking….Hayato, you are on suppression…do not let it move”

“What makes it different from any other enemy though?” I asked

“Bosses absorb more Cyber-Energy than the rest of us….their attacks hit harder and their shields are thicker. It’s the reason we need parties to bring one down. This however being bronze, it’s not going to be anything compared to what is to come later on. Basically this is where the game teaches you the ropes….can’t be anything too challenging”

“You sure we will be able to manage, Tatsuo-san?” Haru asked, sharing my concerns

“Well….to put your minds to ease, let's find out shall we?” Tatsuo replied

He turns around and walks towards the gate at the limits of the city…we follow and find ourselves outside the confines of the walls. Tatsuo acted as our guide, navigating us through the dirt paths lined with caravans and patrols of guards and players alike. We cross paths with many early quest takers, some on their knees gathering, while others are fighting for their lives against mobs of massive spiders and even sentient plants….but the one thing all of them had in common, was one member spectating in the sidelines, and it didn’t take me long to realize that those spectators were the collectors from the New World Order. We ran across countless groups, but every single one of them had a collector leeching off them, and it wasn’t long before we got ourselves into trouble with them.

“The dungeon entrance should be a couple minutes away around this bend” Tatsuo reassured

The moment we turned a blind corner, we were met with a gruesome encounter.

“PAPA! MAMA!” A little child, not any older than the one’s in this clan, was on his knees wailing on the body of his recently passed mother. His father’s body was alongside and both were covered in blue blood with big spills of red revealing their mortal wounds. However, the collector was unscathed to no one's surprise.

The collector sounded irritated “Drag these two dead beats out of there only for them to die on me. How am I even supposed to finish my job now?”

He approaches the sobbing child who looks up at him. “Could’ve got something done if you were a bit older. It’s a shame actually” and without even giving the child a moment to flinch, he pulls out his handgun and shoots the child in the head, making him join his dead parents.

Haru didn’t take kindly to the events that unfolded and tried to intervene, but I grabbed her arm tightly and slightly nodded my head calling her off. We didn’t want anymore trouble from these assholes, and we tried to pass by as we saw nothing…..But when does anything ever go our way

“Hey you….Clan of four” he called from the side of the road to which we stopped our trek

He approached and continued “What are you up to?”

“Going dungeon scouting…Is there a problem?” Tatsuo took charge of the situation

He scoffed “Yeah, there is a problem… I don’t see a Shepherd with you. Where is he?”

“Fuck” Hayato muttered under his breath in the back

“Who was assigned to you when you took the quest? I want a name”

“Roland” Tatsuo replied, but the so called ‘Shephard’ chuckled in response

He closed his distance to Tatsuo “Look…this might be a joke to you and I don’t know where you heard that name. But if you keep messing with me, there will be hell to pay”

But Haru suddenly lost it and punched the man “Hell to pay? You mean how that little kid paid YOU FUCKING MONSTER” her scary voice on full force, but it wasn’t enough to shake the overly arrogant shephard.

“Haru!...That’s enough” I said restraining her

“You fucking bitch….Haru was it? You just did your final mistake”

I try to hold her back but it was like trying to wrestle a bear, she was stronger than she looked but I still managed to keep her from doing anything rash….until

“For what you just did you bitch, off to the Purgatory for you” and it happened again

It was the encounter with Roland all over again, but this time it was much worse….he knew about it. Noticing my sudden shift, Haru instantly calmed down, as she instinctively knew, what awaited him was much worse than what she was going to do.

“As a matter of fact, I’ll take both of you….Our new boss is planning on rebuilding in the Silver layer and we need some….free labor….for when that happens. I’d say you two fit the bill”

The nightmare that I had been keeping locked away came at me in full force. But I manage to channel one of the few things that it came with….The anger. And the moment he placed his hand on my shoulder was the last move he made.

I wrapped my arm around his, and dropped him onto the ground sweeping his legs. His throat was left open with a gaping hole after it made contact with my Karambit and he started choking for air. I pressed on his throat and mouth to make sure he choked in his own blood. A few moments later, he was lying there motionless, with my hands covered in red. I get back up and look at the group. They all looked unphased….. it’s as if they were expecting something like this to happen.

“Sorry…I just-”

“It’s okay……It’s okay” Tatsuo reassured.

And just like before, we picked up the pace to our destination like nothing happened. It should’ve been harder for me to do, especially after being covered in blood that is not mine….But when was the last time I actually let killing monsters get to me.

“This is it,” our reliable guide points out.

And where he pointed, lied a tall door less arch emitting a pale-blue glow.

But Hayato seemed confused

“You sure this is it? The doorway is transparent. It means it’s cleared”

“That’s what it used to mean back then…And yes, I am certain. Also, one way to find out”

“I don’t like this one bit Tatsuo….I’ve seen others taking on raid bosses and their gates were always like the usual”

“Can you quit being pessimistic before we even check it out. You are even the one who taught me what that does''

“There is a difference between pessimism and scepticism….and this is scepticism”

“Can we please just head in there and check it out without you being a wet blanket?” Tatsuo reiterated

“Fine”

Tatsuo walked into the gateway and disappeared, and he was followed by Hayato. I attempted to do the same, putting my hand in first and slowly pushing the rest of my body in. On the other side, the change in scenario was drastic. From the bright red outdoors, to the white marble interior. The lighting was dim but was enough for us to see where we were. The thin layer of blue fog below my knees was a bit off-putting when I was trying to watch my step, but as I was assessing my surroundings, a pair of hands grabbed my shoulders, that sent a chill up my spine.

“Relax, Yu-chan. You don’t have to be so tense”

However, that did help in calming my nerves though.

We walked the dim blue hallway till we reached the end and realized that we were standing on a balcony. The floor beneath was wide open and the blue fog flows downwards and filled the floor below, leading towards a sole armored humanoid being on his knees, like it was meditating.

“Wait…where is the raid boss?” Hayato asked confused

“Actually” Tatsuo placed his left hand in front of us so we could see it through his interface “That is the raid boss”

“Well, this is going to be easier than I thought” he commented

“I don’t know…best we be on our guard”

“I am with Hayato-san here” I expressed my view on the situation

“Same here as well” Haru also joining in

“Come on guys, just look at that thing. I think I’m bigger than that” Tatsuo’s overconfidence reared its head

“Yeah but that thing managed to wipe out multiple clans on its own. I don’t like this Tatsuo”

“You don’t like anything to begin with, Ishikawa…..Both of us alone has taken down bigger bosses than that with randoms back in the day”

“Yeah, but that was back in the day. Can we not be overly cocky about this?”

“Tatsuo-san….Do it for the kids….by any chance we die, they will be left to fend for themselves” Haru appealing to his better nature

Tatsuo took a moment to think… “Alright….you have a point”

I guess the kids are Tatsuo’s soft spot. Guess he is no different than me in that regard.

After assessing the boss and the arena below, the two experts started to take down notes. And after a few minutes, they inventoried their notepads and started walking past us towards where we came in from.

“We are done here… Let's go.”

We all followed and I took one moment to take another look at everything below. My eyes drifted from right to left and towards where the boss was, and suddenly. Its eyes came to life and the blue stare of death pierced me. He didn’t move an inch, but it was as he was aware.

“Mano-san…don’t fall behind” screamed Hayato from the entrance, and I walked away with a quickened pace towards them.

And just like that, we were back outside again. We retraced our steps back while keeping our distance from other PvE parties….Didn’t want to get into another scrap like before.

A couple of hours later we found ourselves right back in Helios, and a hop, skip and an L-Train ride away, we found ourselves in front of Manfred’s emporium.

“Oh….hello there, it’s a first to see all of you here this early…..Wait, don’t tell me….you guys are attempting a raid aren’t you?”

“Spot on as usual Manfred-san….and we know you are the man when it comes to handling restocks” replied Tatsuo

“Say no more, Kanamori-san”

Manfred cracks his knuckles and rushes to the back of his shop, only for the sounds of him tripping over metal objects seeping out of the blinds. Moments later, he comes out with a hunk of items on him. He barely avoids tripping and he places everything on the ground.

“Right, so…let's start with Kanamori-san shall we” he bends down and places a set of items on the table one after another “Ten High velocity 50. Cal magazines for your sidearm, and 10 Plasma cartridges for your sword…19 HP vials and one SP vial just to be on the safe side. For utility I set you up with a 3 flashbangs….You are running a full buy so don’t hesitate to take risks if needed.”

“Next up, Ishikawa-san.” Once again, he does the same, placing a set of items on the desk “Half buy for you Ishikawa-san. 7 clips of 7.62 High Vel, and 3 clips of 7.62 Armor Piercing….2 extra clips of 9mm High Vel in there as well. 3 smokes and 2 absorbers just in case, and a 5-5 for you”

“5-5?” I whispered at Haru

“5 Heals and 5 Stamina Potions…it’s what players commonly have”

“Oh?...I see the little ones are not with you today…so it’s Nishiyama-san’s turn next” And again “If I’m to guess, you are going to be up front….I’ll set you up with a full buy. 3 Taser Overcharge cartridges, 15 slug rounds to give you a bit of range on that shotgun of yours and 15 explosive shells in case you have to deal with armor. I’ll give you a 7-3 but I won’t give you any smokes as you could get lost in them due to the range you play. I’ll set you up with 3 C4 charges instead.”

“And last but not least, the newcomer…..I’m so sorry, but I happened to forget your name”

“Mano”

“Ahhh right…anyways Mano-san.” He peeked over the counter and looked at my lower half

“No sense of subtlety huh, Manfred-san”

“Well I don’t know what weapons she runs”

“You could just start with that you know” I remarked and placed both my weapons on his counter. He put on a pair of gloves and observed both of them

“Hmm…MP7 conversion module and a Karambit blade. Well-maintained but uncommon choices of weapons. As a matter of fact, I don’t think I’ve seen many players playing SMG conversion modules due to the recoil”

“Really, doesn’t feel any different than a regular gun” I remarked

“Regular…gun?. Oh, you mean from where you come from….in that case, guns in your world should kick quite a lot then…Anyways, I’ll be right back”

Manfred goes to the back again only to appear after another couple of moments of rummaging, but this time, he places everything he brought directly onto the desk.

“ I wish I had more to give you but all I had was two boxes worth of High Vel 4.6x30mm. I loaded a box of them into clips and you can have the other box as some loose ammo just in case you have to rely on your repeater. Basically what’s popular is 7.62, 5.56 and 9mm when it comes to primaries so apologies for not even having any Armor Piercing for your gun. But either way, I had set you up with a full buy to compensate for the lack in ammo. Five flashbangs and two smokes to bail you out of hairy situations.. And just as a bonus, I had added a bit of a personal project of mine as well.”

He opens an unmarked small rectangular box and takes out what looks like a small pellet.

“Acidic karambit tips. Since I couldn’t find any AP for you, this should eat right through armor if you get close enough…Let me know how you fared after you make it back….And last but not least, I set you up with a 5-5”

I inspected everything he gave me, and dematerialized it all into my inventory. While Hayato gave me a crash course about most of it, I still had doubts about it all. The group parted ways with Manfred after the transaction and started our walk back.

“Question….what the hell is a full buy?”

Hayato looks at me behind him, all relaxed with his hand behind his head, and then looks at Hayato

“You didn’t teach her about PvE, didn’t you?”

“I thought we were going for PvP first so no,” Hayato answered.

“It means full raid inventory” Haru answered

“A raid inventory?”

“I’ll handle it Haru-san”

Hayato cleared his throat before he began

“Since it’s PvE we are doing first, I’ll lay you down the basics….What we are about to attempt is called a raid boss. Remember what I told you about the energy players use for their weapons and shields?”

“Cyber-Energy…yeah I remember”

“Well it’s not only players who use it. It’s also enemies. That’s the reason enemy mobs are easy to clear even alone. Because the amount of energy radiating down here from the sphere is very low, making all types of common enemies extremely weak….But…there are a few who have the ability to absorb much more than your common mob enemy. It's even a few times more than what players absorb, making them much more dangerous. They are much bigger, hit significantly harder and almost impossible to take down alone. That’s why they are called raid bosses, since you need a party to take them on. Even the Guild doesn’t allow solo players to take them on.”

“And now to answer your main question….What is a full buy you asked. When taking on PvE, you need to make sure you are prepared enough to take it on. Regular fetch and extermination quests require next to nothing in that regard but when it comes to Raid bosses which have a massive payout of Rels and RP behind it, you need to be properly prepared. Unlike other game modes where you can carry anything you want as much as you want, raids have a separate inventory you should use. This inventory has a limited capacity of 1000 Item Points or IP for short. For example, for healing, HP and SP vials have an IP value of 10 per vial, and that value increases with the power of the item. When Manfred-san meant full buy, he meant he gave you a kit of items worth 1000 IP, I on the other hand only got 500IP worth of items as I was running half-buy.”

“Why not run everyone on full-buy then?” I asked

“And that is the catch…. Once the raid is over, all unused items in the raid inventory gets destroyed for everyone. So imagine that plus the cost of anything here”

Now it makes sense.

“You would be making lesser profits if you over-prepared” I said

“You are quick on the uptake Mano-san ....makes my job a whole lot easier. And to add to that, it’s the Rels you make in PvE that we use to gear up for PvP, so full-buying every time will end us up in the red financially. We can and always have to go with full buys in higher ranks, but that’s not something that anyone can afford right now.”

“Speaking of which…how is the clan fairing anyways. How far are from the ‘RP cap’ as you called it”

For that, Tatsuo answered instead of Hayato

“Actually….we had been running PvP for quite some time now. It’s much safer to take the kids into as well…..And yes, in case you are wondering, respawning does work there….So far, the kids have reached RP cap and I’m sitting 900 RP as well, but Hayato and Haru-san are a bit behind. So…best way to get a massive amount of RP in one go? A raid boss.”

“Uh-huh”

“We need to get you up to the cap as well, Mano-san. We’ll help you out in the climb, don't you worry. Nothing can beat us as long as we-” and Hayato was quick on the intercept

“Stop…. Just…..Stop. Don’t finish that sentence.”

Tatsuo cleared his throat and continued “ As I was going to say…unfortunately, this is the last time I will be playing with you till the ascension BR, since by the time we finish, I will be at RP cap. Once that happens, you are locked out of PvP and raid bosses”

“Pleasure to be playing alongside you is ours, Yu-chan” Haru said while leaning towards me from the side

This is way too much for me to take in. But I reassure myself due to the fact that I have gone through multiple levels of hell and back…..And if I survived that….

Back at the clan house and the kids were up and about. Akira, Shun and Naoto being the main sources of sound in the closed off house.

They stop what they were doing when we enter and impatiently rush towards us.

“Tatsuo-Nii, Haya-Nii, Yu Nee-chan, Haru Nee-chan….come play with us?”

And as usual, Tatsuo is quick on the follow up

“Not right now boys, we are about to get us a good haul of points today. How about a few rounds of sugoroku once we get back tonight”

“Ehh? You all are going to be gone till tonight? That’s too long” Naoto-kun’s brattiness was shining through

“Also, I don’t see Misa-chan. Where’d she run off to?” Haru inquired after noticing the missing member.

“Huh? Misa?...She started crying all of a sudden and locked herself in her room. Couldn’t be bothered to check on her anyways”

“Shun-kun…that’s no way to treat your sister.” Haru expressed her disapproval

“How did you-…. It’s not like I don’t care about her, it’s just that she just tries to ruin any fun we are trying to have. Saying stuff like ‘this place is scary and dangerous….you shouldn’t do this Onii-chan, you shouldn’t do that Onii-chan’ and she barely even talks to any of us” Shun replied with his viewpoint

“Tatsuo…” Hayato looks at him

“I’ll handle it” he assured Hayato and turned back towards the young trio “We will be a bit late today, but I promise we will be back before bedtime. And the winner of tonight gets to decide the menu for tomorrow.”

That definitely got the kids interested and recharged their patience. Getting the idea that all of us are busy, the hurricane of chaos passed by us and into the outdoors…. Hurricane of chaos? Wait, Is Tatsuo’s gimmick creeping up on me?

“Ishikawa, Mano-san, Haru-san….give me a few minutes yeah? We got a few things to settle before we leave. You can use that time to check all the gear you got from Manfred”

Neither 3 of us questioned Tatsuo about it, and we disbanded into our rooms till that time. I entered my bare bones room and emptied my inventory onto the desk and organized everything separately.

“Lets see…4 clips of High Velocity, 30 loose High Velocity rounds, 5 blade tips, flashes and smokes” I muttered to myself. I gave my weapons some last second maintenance with a conditioning kit and fitted the attachments I needed for the raid. 2x flip-sight on my gun so I can alternate ranges, foregrip for recoil control, laser pointer to help at close ranges and finished off by fitting one of the acidic blade tips onto my knife. Used the rest of the time I had practicing my reloads, reducing extra movement to shave off those few precious milliseconds of downtime…. and a shower and an hour later, it was time to go….or at least I thought it was.

Haru gave a quick knock on my door “Time to go Yu-chan”.

Everyone gathered downstairs at a moment’s notice and was ready to go.

Tatsuo took charge and called the first order of business “Alright, time to go get some lunch”

“Eh?” I stare in utter confusion.

“Right…forgot you haven’t done this before. All good, just follow our lead”

Hayato and Haru just passed me and left through the door behind Tatsuo. Guess I am to do as he asked and follow.

What it led to, was another cross-city journey from Upper to Lower-Sec. Which begged the question I asked

“Is every raid this tedious?”

“Well, previously all the grunt work was cut down by our ability to fast travel…Guess that isn’t something that doesn’t exist in here” Hayato answered

“Fast Travel?”

“Long story short, you disappear from one place and reappear at another closer to where you want to go”

“Huh…that would’ve been convenient”

We arrived at our destination with the sphere still shining red, but it seemed to be unreachable as we spotted some people in familiar attire strong-arming the people around and inside.

Hayato sighed “Of course there would be NWO at PvE gathering places…. especially after that whole incident”

Tatsuo looked confused “Now what do we do, I’m fine risking the boss without buffs but-” but Haru shut him down in an instant

“No…remember what we agreed on, Tatsuo-san”

“Yeah but what are we going to do….it’s not like there is another place we can go to”

“Actually…I think there might be…it’s not too far from here…come on”

Hayato led the whole group down an alleyway a couple of streets away from where we were heading and entered through a sliding door into an eatery.

“Out of Sight Izakaya…couldn’t be anymore on the nose on that one” Haru commented reading the sign outside

“Well, come on guys…don’t leave me hanging,” Hayato said, holding the door for us.

“Welcome to my-….. Wait…HAYATO-KUN?”

“Good to see you too Master. Been quite some time”

“My god… How did you even know?”

“Caught a glimpse while I was coming this way. Wasn’t too surprised to find you here, considering that your best customers were me and the rest of the gang back in the day.”

“I am really glad that there is at least one familiar face in here…what about the rest of your friends?”

Hayato showed a nod of disapproval “Nothing….I don’t even know if they are still alive”

‘Yes, I heard…A lot of people were separated from their loved ones. And I never thought that Tadashi-kun could even do something like what he did. But rest assured, you will find somebody sooner or later

But Hayato glanced back at us and he quickly pretended like nothing happened “Anyways, this is the group I am currently running with…Guys, this was the man behind the best ramen in Shibuya, the master of my former team’s main hangout spot”

“How do you do… Souji Uchihara at your service”

“Tatsuo Kanamori….Nice to meet you, Master”

“Haru Nishiyama here”

And then he was staring at me, and my hesitation kicked in

“Come on, Yu-chan…You don’t have to me shy”

I was already way over my limit of trusting strangers I just met….but I was determined to leave my old self behind

“Y…Yulia Mano….p…pleasure to make your acquaintance” I said with a very low tone while avoiding eye contact.

One might think I was uncomfortable letting myself be known to this many people, and that one would be right.

“Ah…I see Ms. Mano here is not in her comfort zone right now…Reminded me of Matsuri-chan….Speaking of which…..Hayato-kun, any news onto what happened to them…I remember Akio-kun bringing up that they were sent away earlier that the others”

“Yeah…Matsuri, Yukari, Tadashi and Kuroshiki were away two years earlier. Haven’t heard a peep about any of them and….we all know about Tadashi.”

“That is a shame indeed…they were really a cheerful bunch. Besides that, I had taken too much time reminiscing about the past already. What can I get you today?”

“Master….if you are running a registered job, does that mean you also serve raid meals?” Hayato inquired

“Indeed I do, Hayato-kun….Ah, I see you are going for the quick way. Well, you have come to the right place. Have a seat anywhere you like and let me know what you would like”

Hayato pulled himself a seat in front of the counter, and we all followed his lead. Makes sense he would want to catch up with the master.

“Okay, okay….I’ve been away from this for quite some time….Master, you still got it when it comes to ramen? Hayato asked

“You question my skills, Hayato-kun? We know how that ended last time.”

“Yeah, but this is not your usual place, why don’t we find out if you can do the same here?”

“Oh ho, prepare to be eating your own words, young man….So same as usual?”

“Same as usual”

Guess this bunch was competitive even outside the game….but after he had finished ordering, Hayato looked at us from his seat in the corner

“Guys…just trust me on this, and get yourself one of the ramen’s, you’ll thank me later”

Haru and Tatsuo couldn’t help but crack a smile and chuckle at his enthusiasm.

“What?”

“Nothing…this just this is the first time I’ve seen you this happy Hayato-san”

“I’m with Haru on this, only two moods I’ve known of you since we met in here was serious and jackass”

And then there was a pause of silence, until the both got us

“Who are you calling a jackass, you third rate shonen-protagonist?” Aaand they are back at each other’s throats….again

“HUH? What was that?.... I couldn’t hear you from down there short-stuff”

And in turn, the master let out a slight laugh, which got the two idiot’s attention

“Sorry about that, but it just reminded me of you and Junichi-kun….It’s nice to know you found yourself a friend as good as him down here.”

They both settled down after that, looking embarrassed.

“Master…One Tonkatsu Ramen here” Haru went ahead and ordered, and pressed a prompt on her interface which I couldn’t get a proper look at

“Fine….I’ll have one of what this numbskull is having” Tatsuo ordered the same as Hayato and he too did the same on his interface

And now everyone was looking at me….Why are social situations so tiring?

“I’ll have whatever you recommend” And instantly my interface popped up, and now I saw what it was all about. It has a full range of buffs I could select.

Tatsuo noticed that I was blanking out on that screen for some time. “You might want to go with the full aggression option” which is exactly what I selected.

“Coming right up” and the master turned his back to us and tended to his stations.

And while we were waiting, I went ahead and popped the question since it was already out there.

“You knew him, didn’t you? The Immortal Tyrant”

“We all have a right to keep secrets. But even I knew it wasn’t one that was going to stay hidden for long….Yeah, I knew him”

“It’s just….. I don’t know what happened to him”

“What do you mean?” I inquired further

“Sometimes if you know the journey a man took, all the shit he had to endure, and how he powered through all of that where many would just crumble and give up….If you know someone that well, you also know the lines that those people can’t and won’t cross. The guy up on that stage that day…..that wasn’t him. I couldn’t see him as someone who would take a life so discriminately, and act like it was nothing to him”

“We all have seen the most innocent of people turn cold blooded. It’s just how this place works” Tatsuo expressed his view

He was right though. If he wasn’t I wouldn’t be here. To think I trusted that two-tongued lizard with her…even more reason I will not make his end easy in the slightest of ways. But as I was carried away in my train of thought, I didn’t realize I had attracted the room’s attention

“ano-san…Mano-san….Mano-san!” Hayato’s voice slowly become louder, snapping me back to reality

“You with us?” he asked

“I am…just had a couple of things floating around in my head”

“Anything you want to share?”

I nodded slightly showing disapproval

“And hey….it’s fine if you use my first name. Feels off that everyone is on a first name basis except me” I took another step away from the old me

“Understood…Yulia-san” Hayato took no hesitation in closing that distance

“Now that I think about it….How come you refer to Hayato-san with his last name” I inquired from Tatsuo

“Oh right…Back when I first met this nitwit, there were another guy I knew in my class who was also named Hayato. Came to a point where once I say that name, both of them would answer at the same time”

“Oi, Tatsuo…you don’t have to mention that part you know”

“Couldn’t help it Ishikawa, the lady asked about your common ass name, so I gave her the full story”

And they are at it again, back off their chairs and at each other’s throats

“You got a problem with that Mr. High and Mighty? Your name may resemble a dragon but all I see is a chicken”

“Well this chicken is about put your common ass in the fryer. Lets see who turns into Karaage then”

Okay, I am sort of starting to enjoy this. But it is cut short by Haru dragging both of them by their ears like children.

“Boys…Manners. You are making trouble for the master here”

“Ow..ow..ow. Sorry, Haru-sama” Both of them said in unison. I’m just in the opposite corner trying not to laugh.

“I don’t mind really….the rest of them were pretty much the same. One day, I just accepted their chaos”

“As long as we were paying and not breaking anything…you forgot to add that, Master”

“I thought that was already obvious, Hayato-kun”

And finally, our food arrived.