In the Heart of Darkness

Tied down to the chair was Ayato and greeting him was an old man in a set of haori and hakama darker than black.

“What do you think K stands for?”

He asked once again, repeating the question like a broken record.

An old man though he might be with clearly-defined wrinkles spreading around his face, his physique was more than healthy for someone who seemed to be dipping his toes into his early sixties.

The hand he was using to grip his walking cane was firm with strength that would make anyone question the point of carrying a cane around.

Like seriously, why do you even need to use a cane…?

“YOU BRAT! THE BOSS IS TALKING TO YOU!”

Ayato was quickly reminded that he was in an unquestionably dangerous scenario with people that no one should have messed with when the two burly men sitting in seiza behind the old man shouted from across the room.

If you wanted to stealth, you should have grabbed me…huh…?

The annoying chirpings of a girl with golden hair came to mind, something he was both assured by and annoyed of.

Not receiving the replies they were hoping to hear, the two of them stood up, rolled up their sleeves and aggressively walked over.

“Not so fast, you idiots.”

Only to be stopped by the old man who decided to unsheathe his cane to brandish a hidden cane sword from out of nowhere. His intention was likely to widen his arm span to halt the approach of his two subordinates, each with a body size that was almost more than double his own.

“Look at the uniform this kid is wearing, he is likely from the same school that Kanata is attending.”

“The young master’s…!”

The old man explained patiently as if teaching elementary school students as metaphorical light bulbs started to glow dimly above two large men’s heads.

“Which means, if this kid returns to school traumatised with whatever you two did to him today, his parents might lodge a complaint to the school, or worse, he might start a rumour about Kanata that makes people distance themselves from him!”

Only then did their “light bulbs” grow incandescent.

“The young master will become lonely!”

“We’ll make sure to beat the kid to a pulp and remind him not to do anything funny!”

They replied, full of pride, as if they had thought of the perfect plan.

The old man only stuck his cane sword onto the tatami floor in response. With his free hand, he was about to do a facepalm but stopped himself at the last second and decided to cover his entire face in embarrassment instead.

Turning away from Ayato who was still tied up and gagged by a cloth in his mouth and his two henchmen, he faced towards the sky and sighed.

“My son from up above, how have you been? I have been taking care of your son so far and he is growing up like the fine young man you did…was what I hope I could say… Strange, I can control the underworld like the back of my hand but I just don’t understand what is going on in that kid sometimesー”

Amidst his moaning, the sound of a telephone ringing interrupted him.

“Tch. What is it now? I sent the whole underworld down so they can do the “clean-up” nicely…”

Begrudgingly, he left the room to pick up the phone while his two underlings followed behind him.

Ayato was finally alone again.

But with his legs and hands tied and his mouth stuffed, there wasn’t much he could do.

“Good evening, Tsukimoto-kun.”

All hope seemed to be lost until he was greeted by a familiar cheery voice.

“I got your message and location sharing… As a member of the Public Morals Committee, I have to denounce such extreme displays of preferences, no matter how much freedom of expression an individual is entitled to…”

In the eyes of the tanned girl who was still in her sports attire, Yoshinori Sayaka declared while failing to conceal the bit of disdain she was trying to suppress.

Of course, Ayato shook his head in denial.

“Yeah, yeah, I know, have to check, just in case…”

Having confirmed that he was in need of actual help and not indulging in undisclosable fetishes, she cut him loose with the cane sword lying around.

“Let’s get out of here.”

She said, as if the place she walked into wasn’t the residence of the most dangerous organisation the city had to offer.

They exited the room and along their way, several brutes were haphazardly left unconscious on the floor.

Not just unconscious, they were out cold. Ayato had a hard time stopping himself from posing his questions.

The Kurosaka Residence was a huge place as seen from the outside and an even larger labyrinth when navigating from the inside.

By the time they reached one of the main gates leaving the residence, the sky had long turned dark.

“As students, we should not stay up any later, do take care on your way back.”

Just as suddenly as she appeared to rescue Ayato, she was about to make her leave as abruptly. He wanted to thank her so he looked for his phone.

That was when he realised…

Shi…

“Looking for something?”

Standing beside the entrance was a boy with sharp eyes with a school bag dangling on one finger, Ayato’s bag.

“Catch.”

Without warning, he flung the bag over back to Ayato. The bag landed square on Ayato’s head since he didn't have the time to react.

“Thank you Kurosaka-kun. Do you have anything else for us?”

Ever the polite one, Yoshinori-san asked him

“No.”

And curtly, Kurosaka-san replied.

“Then we’ll see each other in school. Goodbye.”

Ending the conversation, she ushered Ayato to make his way home.

“But…”

They didn’t walk more than two steps before Kurosaka-san started talking again.

“I would apologise for what gramps and his goons did. Their methods are wrong but know that their intentions are always good. When I take over, I will make sure the world knows too.”

Walking back into his humongous residence with his back turned against them, he left those words as he waved a single hand goodbye.

“As long as it is not illegal, we’ll be rooting for you!”

Yoshinori-san shouted as the giant doors closed behind the boy’s black silhouette.

“He isn’t as bad as everyone makes him out to be~”

She shot Ayato a smile, full of delight at having discovered something no other students other than the two of them had.

It was a smile that could make any boy’s heart skip a beat but he was too engrossed with the red thread suspending magically above the girl’s head.

♡♡♡

It wasn’t long until their paths home diverged. They bid each other farewell and went their separate ways.

For the second time, Ayato was alone, walking along a dimly lit road.

It wasn’t a route that many would frequent so it was nigh on deserted with nary a sign of activity in sight other than the buzzing of the fluorescent street lamp.

Under the backdrop of the night, accompanied only by the stars alight, Ayato was

“I’VE ALREADY SAID TO BRING ME ALONG, YOU DUMMY!!”

Like a shooting star casting a trail on a canvas of black, the owner of the voice that intruded on the silence latched onto Ayato from behind.

“You humans are so fragile… You take a fall and you die… You go too deep into the ocean and you die… You get too lonely and you still die…! Is it really so hard to take care of yourself!?”

Hiding her face behind his back was the girl with short golden hair, now painted a silvery hue under the moonlight.

In between her sentences were pauses that tried to conceal her faint sobs, but the tears seeping into the back of his shirt only revealed more than she could hide.

…

It was an experience completely novel to Ayato, so much so that he could not respond.

“You and I, we are partners. We might know nothing of each other beforehand but we are soulbound now. Not even running to the edge of the world can separate us.”

The weight of her words, Pip’s words finally began to weigh down on him.

Despite her happy-go-lucky attitude, she was…

She had always been…

Alright.

I got it.

With his hand firmly grasping her hand that had wrapped around him, he declared.

That’s right, partner. We’re matchmakers, so let’s make the best match in the history of matchmaking!

The world remained silent but a flame was lit within.

I’m not leaving again, so could you let me go for now?

“No!”

With his small request swiftly shot down, the both of them continued their way back home with her still hugging him from behind.

[End of Chapter]