Heavy breaths. Groans of pain. The pitter patter of fresh blood. Gunshots ringing, smoke rising and people screaming. This is what they call a battlefield.
Nothing new for Kozoumaru Sasuke however. He had been raised in this environment. His blood had been spilt on it. He had spilt blood on it. It was only natural for a child of the mafia.
"Alright, you extras, we're heading off to police headquarters," his voice boomed through the room. "We just got news that they're linking the crimes to us and we absolutely need to erase the evidence. They mustn't connect those to us."
"Yes sir!" they responded in a singular, loud voice, just how he had trained them to respond. He needed a team with a sense of unity, as to not waste time during important missions such as this.
It really was just a simple plan at first. Enter the building as a client, have another sneak to the head office while the officers are distracted, then take the files. Unfortunately, reality is not as kind.
The streets around the police headquarters exploded with sounds. Gunshots, explosions, the groans of the injured. Kozoumaru Sasuke could not have thought up of a worse situation.
While the mafia was skilled, so were the police. If one party lost a member, so would the other. Mini bombs massacred tens of each army, bullets pierced through meat and bones, and Kozoumaru was losing time.
"Still using human shields I see, Kozoumaru-San?" a familiar voice spoke behind him. He panicked and whirled to see him. The one man he never expected to see again.
"Inamori Asuto. A pleasure," he smirked, recognizing all features of the cop. The spiky black hair that was unique to him, the tanned skin of being outdoors, and of course, those annoying eyes full of justice and hope. What was different was how buff he had gotten over the years; it astonished and interested Kozoumaru.
"With this event, surely you know what will happen next, no?" Asuto pressed forward, gun sturdy in his hands. One wrong move and a new hole would be put through Kozoumaru's body. However, the small tanned man knew him too well for that to happen.
"It's either my group escapes and you lose the files in this huge fire created, or I die here and the files still burn," he played, scheming a way to get out.
"Try your luck, I'm not that soft to hesitate to spill your blood."
"Like you did all those years ago, Asuto?"
Something whizzed past his face and he felt a sting. Thin strings of blood trickled out of the fresh new cut, though hardly staining his black suit. "Guess you weren't lying."
"Like I said, I won't hesitate, Sasuke," Asuto growled, so low it was unfamiliar to the mafia leader. He practically spat his name.
"Do you hate me that much? Because of that incident?" Kozoumaru whispered, through the explosions and screams.
"Not you, it's me I hate!" Asuto yelled, years of rage and frustration vented out. The smaller of the two back up in surprise, unsure what to make of this declaration. "For having you put your life on the line for me, for letting you get taken away, I HAVEN'T FORGIVEN MYSELF FOR THAT!"
"A-Asuto..."
"And here, here I was hoping! Praying even! That I would find you, protect you from the evils that captured you. What do I find? You on their side!" the cop rambled on and then his voice came to a hushed whisper. "Why did things have to be this way?"
Memories rushed in all at once, all leading to the eventual event that changed their entire lives.
They were seven years old, still innocent children who only wanted to have fun. Two young boys aiming to get into the system of justice.
"Alright my turn to be cop!" cheered the small black haired boy. "Sasuke, you don't mind being the enemy?"
"It's okay, I've played cop long enough. Besides if I don't play enemy, there'll be no one for you to fight to keep the justice," he grinned.
And so they played, played without the knowledge that the scene they were performing would happen in real life.
"We were in an alleyway, remember? I, the cop, had cornered you, the mafia," Asuto reminded. "Exactly as we are now."
"You'd thrown a fake knife at me to stop my movements, like you had seen in that one police show. Somehow, it actually left a cut on my cheek," Kozoumaru smirked, pointing at the tiny scar. It hovered just slightly above the new cut made by an actual knife.
"And before I could apologize..." there was hesitation in the policeman's voice.
"I was taken away right under your nose."
It was a nightmare come to life for two seven year olds. A dark alleyway, a gigantic man looming over the two small kids, hand splattered with blood. Whose was it, they did not want to find out.
"Cops and robbers, huh? Should I take out the cop for you, little guy?" teased the man, using his blood stained hand to form a gun shape.
Asuto quivered, eyes pleading Kozoumaru to help him. What was a seven year old supposed to do against a full grown man?
"N-No please don't!" begged the chubby boy. He ran towards Asuto and pushed him aside, out of the stranger's clutches.
"Strange, defending your enemy like that," he raised his eyebrow in curiosity. "Oh, it must be because he's your prey!" and he chuckled.
Kozoumaru was trembling terribly, tears threatening to form in his eyes. But he would not cry there, he refused to. Asuto was more prone to crying than he was. Was he crying right now behind him? He couldn't tell.
"Well, you'll make a fine student for the boss, he's been meaning to train one from scratch," and he was lifted up, unable to wriggle free. The man heard Asuto's whimpers and turned to him. "Since you're a cop, I would usually get rid of you but we have our morals. Let's see you become an actual cop next time. That's when you'll be gone."
That was how little Asuto and little Sasuke separated.
"I swore to myself that day. I swore that I would save you from them once I became a policeman," Asuto whispered, each word pleading Kozoumaru to see reason. "Please, you're not like this."
A chuckle slipped out of the mafia leader. Then another. And then another. All until it became a full out hysterical fit, it terrified his old friend.
"Me? Not like this? When playing with the others, they always said I made a good mafia leader. Remember?" he cackled. "Which was good too, I learned the true face of this so called 'justice'."
Asuto was shaking now, seeing a man close to death laughing. How could he laugh in such a disadvantageous situation?
"I was planning to save you from this corrupt system, you know," Kozoumaru admitted as his laughter died down. "Justice doesn't exist, it's all a facade to keep face. You could kill me here, right now but what have we done so far? All we did was try to survive when the rest of society shamed us. When we were thrown out. When even 'justice' couldn't reach us."
These words slapped the other hard in the face. His gun wavered for a bit before dropping down.
"So what are you going to do, Asuto? Put a hole in me for 'justice'? Or finally see some truth in this damned system?" he taunted.
"I should've known there was no point in reasoning," he murmured as he reached for his bag.
Kozoumaru backed up in reflex, expecting a few new holes in himself. Instead, he was hit by something bigger and... fluffier?
"I've been meaning to give you this if I ever found you again. You loved teddy bears, didn't you?" Asuto smiled, hurt so obvious it was scribbled in every part of his face. It left Kozoumaru speechless. "I'll... I'll let you off this time. Till we meet again." and with that, Asuto disappeared into the smoke and screams.
The mafia leader took some time to observe the object. It was tattered in some places, ribbon stained and a bit of the ear was torn. He smiled at it and threw it to the ground, walking out of the alleyway.
"There he is!" yelled a policeman. "Hands in the air!"
"Files are right on the ground there, and the fire's spreading quick~" the lie easily slipped through his mouth. In a panic, the group ignored him and grouped in the alleyway.
"Boss, where have you been? We secured the files," reported an underling once Kozoumaru entered the luxurious car.
"Oh, I met with an old friend. Lovely guy, you should meet him," he smiled and just as he did, an explosion went off.
Honestly, the bear would've been a whole lot less insulting if it were not for the bomb strapped onto it.