NOVEL NEXT Chapter 2: Chapter 1: Bloody Dreams (REDUX)
(REDUX) Will be placed in front of all the old chapters I'm rewriting but using some scenes from.
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-CRASH!-
In the once clean and immaculate living room that was lavishly decorated with items of 'fine tastes' that belonged to those who lived in the upper-class, one could clearly see that after-effects of turmoil had clearly occurred.
With tables overturned, glass vases shattered and strewn about, and the once oh-so-neat and illustrious bookshelf torn in half with the books it once held laying about disorderly, within the center of this chaotic mess rested naught but two individuals.
Under the rubble of the books and a torn bookshelf, laid a mere child; who laid there, unmoving and unresponsive.
And standing tall was a man who seemed to be of middle age with grey hairs coursing throughout his head of brown hair, whose figure bristled with power and vigor, clothed in a dandy suit that somehow remained clean and pristine amidst the puddles of crimson-red blood that had adored the now messy living room.
"Damn it... Damn it all!"
Churning with uncontrollable rage as he cursed out, the man sauntered briskly towards the fallen child within the 'rubble', casually pushing away the torn bookshelf as he hoisted the child upwards into the air by his throat.
"Kuuo... uurgh" The brown-eyed child groaned, still halfway between consciousness and unconsciousness, mindlessly clawing at the tough-as-steel hands tightly gripping on his neck, hindering his ability to breathe greatly.
"It's because of you, you know?" As if the ugly expression pasted on the man's face couldn't evolve anymore, it had warped into a face of pure unbridled rage and hatred that even the child; the main recipient of such bitter hatred hadn't ever witnessed before.
"Hhaaaa..." Murmuring faintly, the boy had mouthed an expletive that had only served to further enrage the suit-wearing man as he forced more strength into his grip on the boy's throat, trying to squeeze the dear life out of the child.
"You..." The man seethed out before continuing;
"Just like that whore... You have that same infuriating smug grin on your face as if you're better than everyone..."
"Just who the hell do you think you are to be acting as if you're so great, hmnn? It was bad enough back then, now every day of my life I have your ugly mug tainting my sight." The man finished as he bitterly spat.
-pat-
The boy raised his fist, 'striking' the man in his face.
Although typical of a mere child, the strike was weak.
Pathetically weak even.
If a phrase could be accurately used to describe the power of the boy's 'blow' at the man, then it would be this. However, despite it being laughably weak and even more inconsequential than that of a mosquito's 'bite', it had clearly gotten the message the boy wanted to send towards the man.
Two words, one phrase, and to someone as esteemed as the man was, possessing a high status in the world; it was indeed very effective.
'Fuck you.'
It encapsulated every single iota of the boy's feelings towards this man, as likewise, he had wanted nothing more than to see the other party's body go cold.
Sadly enough, what brief momentum that could've been garnered due to such actions were quickly squashed as it had only managed to infuriate and agitate the man to the highest limits.
Squeezing the child's throat with newfound power, the man's eyes glazed over with a pure white signifying his boiling rage and hatred as he hissed with a shaky, uneven tone;
"You brat, you make me sick! But no matter... Today, I'll soon remove you from my life, once and for all.
-GRIP-
Resisting violently, the boy thrashed around as he once more tried to free himself from the man's crushing grip.
Paling significantly, his face went blue as he was slowly losing consciousness, struggling to even breathe, much less think.
Though in his eyes, they had lost one bit of the luster and the fire within them. Gazing at the man, whose eyes went white with rage, he heard;
"Begone, you eyesore."
-CRACK!-
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-GASP!-
-WHEEZE!-
Abruptly jerked awake, the brown-eyed boy whipped his head around, extremely cautious of his surroundings as he gently caressed his neck, before calming down realizing where he was.
It was just a dream, so it seems.
The boy as was nowhere else but 'home'. Or at least one out his many 'temporary base of operations' that he held. In one of the umpteenth abandoned buildings that lined the sights of the Tokita Ward within The Inside.
"Tch. Stupid old stuck-up geezer, haunting me in my dreams. Why don't you go fuck off with the rest of you fucks in hell you pedo-ghost." Now frustrated and in no mood to return to sleep, the brown-eyed boy leaped out of his makeshift 'bed', a 'futon' made out of stolen cloth filled with sand.
'Very Nice.'- an astute and profound review given by an even younger version of the boy remarking on the effectiveness of the sand bed when he first started living here only 5 years ago.
"It's been so long huh?" The brown-eyed boy murmured about what his life was like before he had begun to live within The Inside
"???"
Peering outside the windows, he saw the gloomy shadow of the night before the daybreak fully casting its reach over the Tokita Ward as far as he could see.
Looking downwards, seeing fellow residents moving up and about, busy as ever, the child could only move on as he wryly thought; 'Tokita Ward is the city that never sleeps, huh?'
'Well, It's still early in the morning? Gee, the sun isn't even up.' Thinking such, the brown-eyed boy began to set up his array of makeshift equipment he had to perform his routine daily exercises.
"Huff, Huff."
Starting with a few reps of stretches and pushups, with his body and frame in mind, the boy exercised intending to boost his flexibility and speed. Without any special training or equipment available, he had to work with what he was given, and with that, he had long reached the human limits of strength a 10-year-old could possibly possess.
'Should I really get a weapon? The glass I'm using is still pretty serviceable though...' Thinking so, he started to rustle through the bags of several books, food, and miscellaneous items that he received from the man wearing a grey-colored Gi.
Pulling out a book focused on Yoga poses, the brown-eyed boy tried to perform some of the poses in an attempt to loosen up his muscles while increasing flexibility while not harming himself due to overstraining the muscles.
"Heeeck, Ngggrh"
Posing in various ways to either loosen or flex the muscles of the shoulders, hips, hamstrings, and back, the brown-eyed boy felt nimble as a thief and as light as a feather.
After spending 10 minutes on stretches, he took a short break before moving on to a different exercise.
-SKETCH, SKETCH-
Grabbing chalk out of the plastic bag, the brown-eyed boy sketched lines onto the ground in the middle of the room, as the next drill he would be doing would be reminiscent of that of a linebacker in football.
Heaving a makeshift sandbag weighing at least 50kg, he strapped it onto his back before heading towards the middle of the room where the lines were drawn.
-TAP!, TAP!, TAP!-
Taking inspiration from what the child had seen in several sports within the books he owned, he started with footwork drills while picking up his speed, keeping wasteful movements to a minimum, while making sure to even out his balance as he continued to land on one leg.
"Alright! Let's go!"
As he continuously dashed to and fro to where the lines were sketched, he sent out light jabs and kicks while keeping up his movements with the sandbag still strapped to his back.
It's thanks to this drill that he usually practiced that he was able to evade the attacks of others within a very narrow escape window, and in the event that he was unable to dodge, then he could escape the most of brunt of the impact that would land upon his body.
-WHIP!, WHIP!-
After performing the drills for about five minutes, and then having another brief rest, he moved on to the second-to-last he would perform; a striking workout.
Hoisting another sandbag that had drastically outweighed the bag currently on his back, he pushed it against the wall before striking it; whether it was jabs, hooks, straights, or kicks, he continued once; getting into position and then striking in a rhythmic manner starting from a one-two onwards, then two; in an unpredictable irregular fashion from an almost free-form position.
"Hyaat!, Haaah!"
After 10 minutes of striking, seeing that the sun was slowly rising the boy decided to finish up. Dropping the sandbag that was strapped to his back, the child had stripped completely as he went to the abounded bathroom to shower.
"Man, I really reek! Though surprisingly, this place actually has water that works and isn't poisoned!" the brown-eyed boy exclaimed.
"Sadly I can't enjoy it too long as it's not too good to stay in one place for too long. I mean, if it's anything that I agree with that lazy karate man on, then it's this." Bitterly thinking so, he went into the dilapidated building's shower to freshen up.
-SSSSSHHRRRRR-
-WHISTLE-
"Man, ain't I a rich man? I've got working water!" Happily humming, the boy scrubbed himself clean with the soap he had gotten from the lazy karate man.
Finally finishing cleansing himself, he walked back to his main room, while going over his course of plan today.
Today, he decided that he would lure others who looked like thugs from other wards in The Inside in order to 'relieve' them of some of their belongings.
In any case, if the others weren't willing to risk their lives to waddle into the Tokita Ward because of mere thieves, then why shouldn't he use this to his advantage?
And while he was on the road, he would 'borrow' a cloak, or a jacket, since he was running out of rags that could be used as clothing.
After all, walking outside without a cloak almost covering his body from head-to-toe?
Really? What would that result in?
Suicide if not a fate worse than death.
While the boy possessed a musculature much more pronounced than an average 10-year-old boy with nicks and small scars all over his body, with his wavy raven black hair with a slightly reddish hue, bright hazel brown eyes shining violently with life, plus a youthful unblemished immature face that still carried the beauty of innocence within the world, it seemed quite natural that in such a lawless land it would surely invite ill intentions of the no-good people living in the Tokita Ward looking for such an 'exotic pet' to have fun with.
And though he was young, the brown-eyed had quite a developed sense of pride and was as stubborn as a young bull despite his best attempts to not show it on the outside.
In a way, robbery and beating people up was A-OK, but risking the sanctity of his rear end?
No way in hell.
"To be cursed of such a fate to be forced to hide one's beauty~" he continued, imitating the manner of speech in a novel he received in the stacks of books form the 'karate' man. It was an English-to-Japanese translated novel by the name of; 'Pride And Prejudice'. However, remembering the lazy 'karate' man's words when he asked him for advice made him break into a small frown.
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Standing tall, with his hands behind his back and his eyes closed, the man wearing a grey gi opened one eye as he gazed at the brown-eyed boy in a cloak. His eyes were black, deeper than the ocean, unable to be fully seen through, and were filled with the most profound-profoundness-to-ever-profound in this mere realm of earth.
Truly, this man was a wise sage.
As he opened his mouth and let out a deep, yet domineering voice that had reverberated down the brown-eyed boy in a cloak's very core and shook the boy's soul greatly, the man said;
"Young child, do you dare? You have eyes, but you still cannot see Mt. Fuji..."
"Huh?" The young boy blankly asked.
"Surely you must know, that to defeat the booty bandit, one must become the booty bandit themselves..."
"..."
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And that was the last time the boy had taken almost anything the lazy 'karate' man had to say seriously.
"Pretentious old man. Wasting my time like that, I can't believe he had me hooked for a second." The boy grumbled as he walked down the hallway.
He didn't know much about what the man was saying, but he couldn't help but think that maybe the man had a point.
'I don't know how, but he's really strong even though he acts like a fool... What if he's actually not pulling my leg? Do I really have to become a booty bandit? Geez, I need to read more books...' The poor boy thought, grabbing his head in frustration.
"Well whatever, I won't get anywhere if I keep thinking too much about it." Pushing the thought aside the boy finally reached his 'living' area as he began to clothed himself, topping it off with a long ragged cloak that covered everything.
"Yosh, time to eat!" Moving over to the bags containing food, the child feasted on an exquisite meal of canned beans and sausage with bottled water.
Truly a magnificent first-class meal for a homeless kid like him living within The Inside.
"Bwahaa! One of the best meals I've had in my entire life if I say so myself!"
Packing up after a brief meal, the boy now rustled throughout the books he had all possessed, picking a certain amount of them being;
'Hooked On Phonics'? Check.
'Book On Vowels And Constanants'? Check.
'Numbers And Symbols?' Check.
'Edu-tainment Book For Men Of Culture?' What.
Tossing the 'edu-tainment' book that consisted of pictures of women in rather intimate positions aside, the boy focused on learning from the materials before him.
Finally, finishing studying after half-an-hour, the boy couldn't help but gaze towards the book he had tossed aside into the corner. Picking up the book as he narrowed his eyes intently while he opened up the page as if light could be seen shining from the book;
"Now, it's time for the 'real' education."
And so, another day in the life within The Inside passed
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-A Few Days Later-
"Haah, Haah"
In a suspicious poorly lit alley there stood six figures. Upon a closer look, it seemed to be five random thugs up to no good as they set their eyes upon their target; a little boy.
"Quickly! Chase 'em down and tie 'em up!"
Chasing a child all the way into the Shichi-Ohba Ward, they had finally trapped him when the boy, who in desperation had dumbly ran into an alley that had a dead-end.
Seeing the child in rags shivering in fright trying to squeeze himself into the very corner of the alley, the group of random thugs laughed amongst themselves and grinned pervertedly, knowing that they've received a good haul today.
It was just this morning when the thugs were on their daily commute from the usual human trafficking gig they currently were making most of their money from when they'd stumble across what they'd consider a 'beauty'.
A little child, no more than 10, with unblemished skin and looked healthy enough?
Had pigs really started to fly? Or was their job becoming even easier than before?
If they were to sell this kid at the old one-stop-shop for all prostitutes and slaves "Rental Bitch", they would've made a killing, they thought.
"Alright little kiddo, come 'ere and just play along, and I promise 'ya that it won't hurt, too badly that is." Thug 'A' mischievously snorted.
"No! Leave me alone! Go away!" the child shouted, but alas, there was no one to help nor hear him. And even if they did, the price of playing the hero was too much for no known reward, and especially since the threat of death loomed over everyone equally every day, no self-respecting person would willingly jump out to help.
"C'mon, why don't we sample the goods before we sell him, eh?" Thug 'B' cheekily licked his lips as Thug 'C', 'D', and 'E' as the boy in rags had labeled them had looked on.
"As I said earlier, no! You know how rough you get when it comes to handling the goods! Besides if we give him to the old man untouched, we'll get a bonus as promised on or agreement." Thug 'A' exasperated explained, before turning towards the little boy.
"Alright sonny, that's enough playing, now come 'ere!" And with that, he jumped at the boy to tie him up.
"Ok, ok, let's get going now. We have what we came here for." Thug 'B' stated, turning around with the rest, however, it seemed as if everything had gone silent.
Yo bro! What's wrong? You've gone all quiet on us." Thug 'B' spoke, but all returned once again was silence.
"Oi! Stop fuckin' around and let's go!" Thug 'C' shouted, moving over to grab Thug 'A' who was just crouched over the boy, unmoving.
"!"
-SCWIT!-
-THWACK!-
-THUD!-
"Aaack!" Holding his eyes, Thug 'C' flailed about before slumping down on the ground due to being bashed on the head with a blunt object.
"Huh!? What the fuck!?" The remaining thugs yelled.
Dropping the unconscious Thug 'A' slumped on his shoulders, the young boy started stretching before stomping twice, with all of his might, downwards to the two thugs' nether regions.
-SQUISH!, GUUISH!-
And what had been heard as the result of that, was a dark, wet, and disgusting sound that made the other thugs shiver.
"Alright guys, I need you all to just play along and let me test out my new toy, ok? I promise you that it won't 'too' much, m'kay?" Reaching behind his back as if to grab something, the child, or rather, the brown-eyed boy in a cloak looked towards the group of thugs, his golden hazel-brown eyes gleaming with curiosity, completely replacing the terrified look he wore on his face earlier.
"Bullshit!" They yelled, agitated, and confused.
"We're not gonna let a kid work us over like a butter biscuit! Forget bringing him back in one piece, fuck him up!" Thug 'B' yelled.
-SWOOSH!, SWOOSH!, SWOOSH!-
From behind the boy's back flew several of the boy's favorite fist-sized rocks that he always managed to find, soaring straight toward the thugs chasing him.
The sling had been made with nothing more than some cloth that the boy had found alongside a few stretch materials that the boy didn't know the names of, but nevertheless, within his hands, it had become serviceable, and serviceable meant something dangerous in the boy's mind.
-WHISTLE-
"Not bad, it's pretty decent." The boy hummed.
-THWACK!, THWACK!, THWACK!-
"Gwaargh!" Thug 'E' cried out.
With most of the rocks hitting the unfortunate thug 'E' in his temple, chin, and throat with enough force to nearly crush them, the two remaining thugs decided to act with more haste as they saw their now unconscious partner drop to the ground as he would be subject to the same fate as their other two partners were.
-SQUISH!-
-SCHWING!-
"Gotcha now, brat!" Reaching close enough, Thug 'B' swung his hidden blade at the boy's neck, hoping the kill him with one clean slash to the jugular veins.
However,
-TAP, TAP, TAP-
-THUMP!-
One second they saw him, and the next second they didn't. Using his footwork that he diligently practiced, the boy ducked out of sight as he maneuvered behind the two swiftly, kicking Thug 'E' in the groin, incapacitating him for a while.
"!"
-SWOOSH-
Turning around, Thug 'B' had narrowly dodged the boy's fist, sending out various slashes from different positions, all with the intent to kill this brat once and for all.
-SLASH!, SLASH!, SLASH!-
-SCRAPE!-
'Hehe, gotcha.' The man inwardly smirked, seeing as blood was finally flowing from this kid's face, and when he saw the kid touch his face before looking at it and shivering, the man broke into a bloodthirsty snarl.
"Looks like it was all bravado, huh?" Now you might want to run, but I won't let you!" Looking at the kid who started to run away, Thug 'B' went into position to chase him, but as he began to give chase, he heard the voice of one of his partners.
"Uuuh, up, look up." Thug 'E' groaned pitifully holding his family jewels
'It's like a sledgehammer, that kick of his. I think one's ruptured' Thug 'E' inwardly moaned.
Looking up, Thug 'B' dodged the rock swiftly falling above him, trying to injure his head, but as he did so, it would soon prove fatal.
-SMASH-
-CRACK!-
It was another rock, launched straight to the man's chin that was tilted upwards. With it cleanly connecting, the wet sound of breaking bone could be heard as the man's jaw was crushed, as he slowly fell forward.
Not done yet, the boy closed the distance, raining down blows towards the man with all of his strength, before finally moving aside as the thug's body crumpled onto the floor, unconscious.
-THUD!-
'Not too sloppy, but could use a few more improvements' The boy inwardly critiqued himself, not particularly happy with the scratch on his face as he wiped the blood off. It was a narrow scratch, but it could've been a life-threatening injury if done by someone more skilled. And as cautious as he always was, he'd have to get it disinfected when he returned 'home' afterwards.
Quickly, repeating the actions the boy did towards the other thugs to this one fallen before him, that familiar wet disgusting sound, had made its way into the last thug standing; Thug 'E's ears.
"Ungh, what the..." Looking at all of his comrades downed by a single kid, Thug 'E' went through various scenarios in his mind to ascertain why such a thing would happen.
And upon catching his bearings, and realizing that his back was turned towards the exit of the alleyway,
He ran.
Or at least he tried to, before being stopped by the boy that appeared before him.
"No, no, no, Mr. Badguy. Not so fast." A childish voice sounded out, full of youthful vibrance akin to the image of a group of children playing joyfully on a hot sunny summer day, but to the thug, who kept looking at the face of the smiling boy, it was anything but childish and innocent.
'A devious devil, trying to lure others to their grisly end.' The thug thought, suddenly gaining enlightenment as he used words he never heard before or thought he would use.
"Why?" The thug barely managed to mouth off as he looked at the lone boy.
"Why?" The boy repeated the thug's question while looking at him as if he was speaking to an idiot.
"Weren't you guys going to sell me into prostitution after trying to force yourselves onto me? It's pretty simple, hmm? Since I'm strong enough, I'm doing it because I can. A boy's gotta eat y'know..."
"Besides, Isn't that how everyone here thinks?"
"So no hard feelings, okay?" The boy smilingly replied, clearly in a good mood if the tone of his voice was anything to go by, before giving the last thug a look that completely looked down upon the man's intelligence.
"Well, c'mon! Show me those hands of yours, mister!" the boy hummed happily.
'Was this all on purpose?' The thug thought.
Upon thinking about it, the kid was always looking at them and before they had started chasing him he had taken off those rags he wore as if he was undressing.
Was it all truly just the ploy of some brat?
He couldn't accept it.
He wouldn't.
His pride couldn't possibly handle it.
And to nurse his wounded pride, he was going to kill this brat.
Getting angrier and bolder, the man summoned up all the courage he could muster, and charged at the boy, as he roared indignantly, ready to kill.
"You little shit! Who the fuck do you think you are, huh? I'll show you what happens when you disrespect your elders you son of a bi-"
-CRASH!, CRACK!-
The man was struck in the jaw, harshly.
It was a tackle that led into an uppercut, that was powered by the boy's full speed and strength, as the boy pushed against the ground, sending himself flying towards the thug.
It might not be anything fancy, but in the boy's mind, it worked like a charm for opponents much taller than him.
-WHACK!, WHACK!, WHACK!-
Swifty and fiercely landing numerous blows upon the man, the boy hadn't let up his fierce onslaught until the last thug was completely unconscious, beaten black and blue, and by a little boy at that.
-THUD!-
"Haah, Haah"
"It seems that I've made somewhat of an improvement." The boy tiredly mumbled before walking over to the unconscious quintuplet of thugs.
"Well, let's get to work."
And with that, he 'borrowed' the wallet and several valuables from them before leaving.
Permanently.
But not before revisiting the downed final thug, and making sure that he wouldn't feel left out by not getting the same 'treatment' that the other four received.
And with that, a disgustingly wet and dark sound rang out in the alleyways.
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-SWIPE!, SWIPE!, SWIPE!-
Using the footwork that was diligently trained in for years in rapid succession with a precisely calculated speed, the brown-eyed boy in a cloak dashed through the crowds within the edges of the Shichi-Ohba Ward, with swift hands pickpocketing others before they could even realize.
-FWIP!, FWIP!, FWIP!-
Pushing all of his gains deeper into his robes, he ran at his fastest speed into the Tokita Ward, knowing when to fold when he had to because soon enough, the residents would notice that their pockets were a tad bit lighter, and with well-developed street smarts, it wouldn't be too long until they realize that there was a thief at work.
After all, one person missing something might be an accident, but a group of people 'all' missing something? Clearly, a thief is doing his job, and it seems that they're doing it well enough.
Too well, in fact.
Strolling back into the Tokita Ward in the late afternoon, the brown-eyed boy in a cloak couldn't help but once more feel slightly odd.
'Again! Someone is watching me again.' The boy grimly thought.
This 'feeling' was a sort of 'intuition' or rather, a 'sixth sense', that he and many others had developed due to many dangerous days and nights within The Inside, not knowing if someone would be might be trying to end his life.
And for all that concerned the boy; this sense had never failed him.
'And this time is from... The west!' The boy inwardly shouted as he narrowed his eyes under his hood, gazing in that direction, only to see nothing.
'Huh? Did that person just move? But I didn't even make it obvious, could they have seen through that?' Thinking over time, the boy had pieced together all the other times that he had been watching for the past month and before that.
"Someone's clearly watching me, and it's the exact same person from before, and I haven't been able to spot them..." Not liking what this would imply, the boy gnashed his teeth in frustration.
Now trying to remain discreet, the brown-eyed boy in a cloak traveled to and fro to different stalls, sometimes window shopping and sometimes buying minor necessities, staying in each place for a while to see if his 'stalker' had left, but he felt as if they hadn't.
'If you want to play tag then fine. But you'll have to play by yourself.'
Picking up the pace, the boy traveled into the entrance of the more familiar alleyways, before exiting from the same way, using his footwork to blend into the crowds as he dashed through them.
'Try playing by yourself for a while, you'll most likely stop after seeing how lonely it is.' No longer feeling as if he was being watched, the boy made his way back to his 'base' before running into a familiar man giving the ol' routine beatdown to a group of men holding weapons and firearms.
'It's that old man again.' The boy blankly thought.
Time and time again, the boy had struggled to grasp even a single one of the man's techniques, no matter how many of his 'fights' he had chanced upon.
'It's like he's swatting flies away and sending them flying without even trying.'
While the boy didn't know the name of this man, he sure did remember him; It was one of his 'employers' that he'd take 'jobs' or 'errands' from to make ends meet.
To the brown-eyed boy in a cloak, the incredibly tall man with shaggy black hair who wore a grey cloak and a simple grey gi tied by a black belt would usually either be on 'jobs' or just screwing around drunk, starting problems with the residents every chance he could.
-CLAP, CLAP, CLAP-
"Just amazing old man, I knew you would sooner die from old age than form a group of thugs" The boy grinned, his voice laced with sarcasm.
"Ah shut up kid! I ain't that old yet!" The man in the grey gi complained.
Shaking his head, the man called the boy with him to his house, in order to ask him for something.
"What's this? A new job request?" The boy asked.
"Yeah, something like that, you see, it seems that the Gen Group had caught on to what we were trying to do, so now they're all sneaky and secretive since you nabbed their boys a week ago."
"So the next time they hit the road, they'll most likely send backup." The gi-wearing man mused.
"So? Whaddya want?" The boy inquired.
"I need you to go out and be the bait and lure them into the 55th building up at North Tokita, and make it look believable please." The 'karate' man said 'cutely', which had only incited the young boy's disgust.
"Uhhh" The boy shivered, not liking whatever that abomination of an expression the man made was.
"Why should I do that though? Ain't your guys already know what they're doing? Don't make sense for me to risk my hide for that." The boy replied.
"Ahh come on! How about this?" The karate man tried to reason.
"I'll get you some more books, free of char-"
"I'll do it, you lazy old man." The boy cut him off.
"..."
'If you're gonna play hard to get, then shouldn't you at least follow it through? Am I really the lazy one here?' The 'karate' man blandly mused, confused at the cloaked boy's shamelessness.
"Anyways, here." Throwing a pair of sheathed switchblades that the boy caught, he nodded to him as the boy began to leave before...
"One more thing old man." The boy suddenly spoke.
"Hmm?"
"Just who was it that has been following me for the past month? They didn't feel like the Yakuza guys as it feels way more 'rough' and 'wild' than those guys." The boy sharply asked, his eyes narrowing into slits as he gazed the lazy 'karate' man, lounging in a chair.
"Hoo? What could you possibly be talking about kid? Sounds interesting." The 'karate' man said, lazily drawling as he made no visible attempts to feign ignorance.
'Acting dumb again huh? So you 'do' happen to know this person somewhat then.' The young boy thought to himself, gritting his teeth as he began to leave once more.
"Nevermind then, I'll soon figure it out."
"That you will, beansprout. From what I've seen, that man's a real animal y' know. He sure likes to appear uninvited and at the most random of times, so you'll most likely be in for a surprise." The 'karate' man wryly smiled.
"..." Looking at the 'karate' man in his eyes, the boy quickly left for home as he mulled over his new tasks and the info about the person who had been watching him for the past month.
He didn't know who it was, but he had an idea; an idea he had pushed to the back of his mind, hoping that it was just him overthinking. However, there was a phrase from one of the books that he read that he had taken a fondness to, and it was that;
'Anything that can go wrong will go wrong, and at the worst possible time.'
He had wanted to believe that whoever was tailing him wasn't hostile, but after living in the Tokita Ward for years, he couldn't rely too much on that train of thought.
Whoever or whatever 'animal' it is, if they had tried to bite, then he'll surely bite back.
'Seems like some extra training is in session' The boy thought sourly.
Since he wasn't strong enough to say; 'Fuck it, I'm out of here', and leave The Inside completely, he'd make sure that he'd survive to see another day in this hellhole and to do that, he would spare no effort, just like he always did.
"Ah fuck it, I'm too young for this!" The boy agitatedly grabbed his head, yelling at the old man in the clouds.
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Chapter 1: Bloody Dreams (REDUX) END