New Foe Arc Part 4
Nao walked into the crowded sushi bar to meet an abhorrent smell. The place stank of seafood; even to a ghoul like Nao who had a very poor sense of smell. Nevertheless the place was still packed with a lot of human customers.
"Hello! Welcome to the Minami Orange Sushi Bar. How many do you need seated?" Nao wondered if this was a new employee.
"No it's all right Kaneda . I'll take this one." Yori Tachibana, the manager and owner of the place, led Nao to a secluded room away from the influx of human customers.
Yori Tachibana was well-acquainted with Nao. As Nao would come around every month or so for a 'meal'. This was arranged by Moto as well.
"Here we are." Yori Tachibana opened the shoji door to reveal Kanie Moto sitting a table alone. Moto motioned for him to sit.
"It's getting late so I'll make this quick." Moto said as he put a sushi roll into his mouth. Nao wondered how he could do it so easily.
"Have you ever read a manga or seen an anime where the main character, who is plain as vanilla and dense as a black hole, just happens to get into a once-in-a-lifetime situation with a beautiful celebrity?" Moto posed.
"No. I don't read much manga or watch much anime." Nao said lamely, remembering the past few hours.
"If this situation came upon you and you were the said main protagonist, how would you react?"
"I… don't know. It sounds ludicrous." Nao couldn't tell where Moto was going with this.
"Whatever. I have done a great deal to help you out. Correct?"
"Yup, you have."
"So even if I ask a lot out of you, you'd gladly accept?"
"Y-Yeah, yeah." Nao said unconvincingly.
"Well I need you to take in a said miss Aika Ito. But only for a while. Maybe about till the end of this summer." At this time it was the beginning of spring.
"Who's Aika Ito?"
"That's right. All you pay attention to is boxing." Moto sounded disappointed. "Aika Ito, the famous pop idol now on the run, is right here." he said as he got up and opened the shoji door to the adjoining room.
Sitting there was a small girl. A girl's who whole attitude seemed apathetic. She sat there as small as a pebble, not making eye-contact with neither Nao nor Moto.
"You want me to take in her!?" He had finally realized the context of the conversation.
"Yes. As I've said before."
"I-I can't. My apartment's only a one-room. This can't work out!" Nao's usual calmness was left behind as he was panicking.
"No. You used to have a one-room apartment. Now you have a two-room apartment with more than enough amenities a highschool boy would need."
"What do you mean?"
"I visited your apartment earlier today, you weren't there so I took the liberty of moving you out myself. I thought it'd make a nice surprise."
"A nice surprise!? As if taking in another ghoul wasn't a 'nice' enough surprise."
Moto eyed Nao for his unusual disobedience and Nao immediately picked up on his stare.
"I'm sorry. I'll take her in no problem." He said defeated.
"Thank you, but that's not all." Moto was back to his usual look. "That bruise on your face... have you been getting into fights?"
"No."
"There's been a problem." Moto cut off Nao.
"A young group of ghouls have been... forcefully," Moto eyed Nao's bruise, "initiating other ghouls into their 'gang'. I need you to join them- no, I want you to become a canary."
"What do you mean exactly?"
"Join them, then relay me what you know about them. Who their leader is, where their base is, what they might be planning, and information of that nature."
"Fine." he said sourly.
The information to his new apartment was handed to Nao and he left the sushi bar along with Aika Ito; who for the most part kept quiet while seeming uninhabited by any sense of cheer. This attitude irritated Nao because he could not stand people down on themselves. Still, with the new address in hand, Nao and Aika made their way home.
They arrived at the apartment complex to see a building standing at four-stories high. This contrasted hugely to his old apartment complex which was simply a small two-story wooden structure.
"The paper said room number '424'. I'm thinking that's the fourth floor?" he asked Aika, not expecting a response.
The room was indeed on the fourth floor and it was in the very middle of the building. The furthest a room was from any entrance. Lucky for them there was an elevator. Nao opened the door with the keys Moto had given him and they clicked the door open.
Nao scanned the room for his old furniture which proved pointless. He wasn't mad though. His old kotatsu was now replaced with a newer one, which he would realize heated up, and his old television was replaced by a small flat-screen. He went into the bedroom to find some of his belongings on a bed. His boxing magazines and laptop were among them.
While taking in his new apartment he had entirely disregarded Aika. He went back into the main room to find her removing her shoes in the genkan.
"You can go ahead and take the bed…" she didn't bother to look towards him, "I'm not really sure how to deal with these kinds of situations." Nao patted the back of his head nervously.
Aika trudged to the bedroom and closed the shoji door behind her.
Nao set his alarm and put it atop the komatsu. He then turned it on, put half his body under the table, and went to bed.
Late in the night Nao was awoken by a small rustling nose. He woke up facing the window and turned over to face the noise he had heard. He couldn't see anything until a bright, white light beamed from the kitchen. Aika had opened the refrigerator and was looking around in it. She turned away from the fridge holding a canned coffee and saw that Nao was awake and looking at her. The only light that illuminated their faces was the light from the fridge.
"You still live a normal life huh?" Aika had spoken, "You go to school every morning, hang out with your friends, and go back home. And they don't realize you're a monster."
Nao, having been half-asleep, replied with "Huh?"
Aika wasn't sated with his answer as she closed the refrigerator and went back into the bedroom. Nao was left confused and in the dark. The night went on silently.
The alarm went off and woke up Nao. It took him a while to fully awake and smack it off. It was much quieter here than in his other apartment, which was next to a highway.
He got ready for school and didn't bother to check on Aika. Not out of spite, but out of obliviousness. He left the apartment to meet the brisk, spring morning air. He figured he was closer to the school than his friend Yumi and expected to find her on the train before he boarded.
He stepped off the platform and into the train with a grin. He was planning to confront Yumi and her yaoi manga hobby but was unpleasantly surprised to find her no where on the train. He wasn't worried at first but as the doors closed and the train departed, he felt a pit in the back of his throat. Thoughts of the gang of ghouls that he ran into, and that Moto had told him about, raced through his mind.
These thoughts cleared out as the train stopped at his destination, though they lingered as he walked the rest of the way.
He walks into school, through the main gates, through the hallways, and into his classroom on the second floor.
He saw Yumi sitting in her seat but she didn't seem to pay attention to him, rather, it seemed as if she were ignoring him. Even when he sat down in his desk next to hers she didn't make the slightest movement to look at him.
Quite a few things crossed Nao's sleepy mind: 'whew… I'm relieved that she's here..' and, 'wait...she's ignoring me?' and also, 'it's the manga huh?'
Though Nao settled on his last thought, other more gloomy thoughts loomed about his head. For now he settled on the silence and waited for class to start.
Class started and he struggled to stay awake. He nearly closed his eyes but enough time passed and the lunch bell rang. A disgruntled Nao rose from his seat seeing as Yumi was giving him the silent treatment. He decided to walk around to get his blood flowing as to not fall asleep in class once class started again.
He bumbled around and went into the third year's hallway; albeit not knowing it. His eyes met with that of someone with bright green eyes. Nao recognized them.
"Hey you're that guy from yesterday… William?"
"Yeah. I didn't think I'd run into you this soon." Will said with a surprised smile.
On the matter of joining the gang of ghouls that Moto had told him about, he didn't know where to start. Until he ran into Will right now, whose presence was like a godsend.
"If you don't mind could we talk a bit. Maybe somewhere secluded?" Nao asked.
"Yeah sure. I don't mind." he said cheerily.
Nao didn't want to ask him too much because he didn't know how well acquainted he was with him. The two went up to the roof and find a quiet spot.
"So what did you want to know?" he said curiously with his head tilted.
"Remember that ghoul 'gang'?"
"Of course, that's when we met duh." Will said jokingly.
"Of course, were they around that area for a long time? Or had they just happened to be there?"
"Mmm, they were there for quite awhile. I really can't stand those types of ghouls. They're arrogant as hell and get pissed off for the slightest of reasons. I mean seriously they…" Will suddenly paused, "pardon me, it seems they've got me too worked up." his smile reappeared.
"Do you think I can find them hanging around there, Nipponbashi, again?"
"I suppose. Well... I do have a good idea where they've been hanging around. I've had for a while." Will recalled.
"W-Where is it?" Nao asked excitedly.
"Wait. Why do you want to know? You don't plan on getting any sort of revenge are you? Because there's more than just those three."
"No. That's not it." after hearing Will show his distaste for those types of ghouls, Nao was not sure if he wanted to tell him what he was really after.
"So. Then what is it?"
He figured it would be easier to tell him, "They're a gang, so I'm looking to join them."
"Why would you want to do that?" Will was honestly perplexed.
"I just… need to. I can't explain right now."
"You don't need to. I'll show you where I think they may be." Will seemed to have understand his resolve. Not his motive, but his resolve. "Meet me after school. I'll be just outside of the main gates."
The bell that marked the end of lunch rang and the two made their way to their classrooms.
Although Nao was a little nervous, he still had trouble staying awake in class. It was when the history teacher started his lecture that finally put Nao to sleep. He was stirred awake by a meager shove to his arm. He turned towards the shove to make eye-contact with Yumi, who quickly looked away. He remembered that Yumi made a promise yesterday to keep him awake. He smiled to himself and managed to make it through class.
At the end of class, Nao made his way to the main gates swiftly to find Will already there. Without a word he lead Nao through town, winding through tall buildings, until they ended up in a clearing with a warehouse in between the tall buildings. Will approached the red, iron door and stopped when he heard a voice.
"Who the hell are you guys!?" this voice had no figure behind it and seemed to come fom someone in the building.
"We just wa-"
"wanted to let you know that you have two new recruits!" Will shouted back.
"Wait… TWO?!" Nao looked at Will with his mouth agape. He just stood there smirking.
Characters:
(what's listed here is things we already know about the characters that have already been introduced; as characters develop more will be added)
Kanie Moto (Jayut)- me
Age: 25
Bio:Little is known about this young info broker. He has ties to Oshiro which almost seem like a debt.
Yori Tachibana (Jayut)
Age: 39
Bio: He is the owner of the Minami Orange Sushi Bar which is run by ghoul employees. He is very sympathetic towards ghouls and humans alike. He isn't the brightest and may put his trust into the wrong people.
Ryota Oshiro (Jayut)
Age: 22
Bio: Head of Oshiro. He came into power after the leader and three others who were next in line were killed. He is a powerful ghoul who is also overwhelmed by his new role as the leader.
Kuruko Hasegawa (Unicorn819)
Age: 17
Bio: It is known that she holds a strong grudge towards Kanie Moto for undisclosed reasons. She is the second in command in Oshiro.
Aika Ito (Jayut)
Age: 16
Bio: The now former pop idol is on the run from the CCG and regular law-enforcement. Her attitude is bleak as she feels like she's lost everything. She has been entrusted into the care of Kanie Moto by Ryota Oshiro and Kanie Moto has entrusted her with his cousin Nao Nakajima.
Nao Nakajima (PassItOn)
Age: 16
Bio: Nao is Moto's cousin who's fairly new to Osaka. He attends school with his friend Yumi and watches a bit too much boxing. He's considered a 'boxing otaku' at school and hardly gets enough sleep because of it.
Yumi Arai (PassItOn)
Age: 16
Bio: Yumi is a human and has recently moved to Osaka. Her social awkwardness and envy she receives from the other girls keeps her from having a lot of friends. It has recently been discovered that she reads yaoi manga, but not how frequently.
Willow (Ruinekys)
Age: 17
Bio: Willow prefers to be called by the name Will or William. This is because he doesn't like when people fawn over his skill at drawing manga. He keeps a cheery attitude but tends to act differently when in fights. This was witnessed when his underclassmen Nao was attacked by a group of ghouls. We can also assume that Yumi Arai is a fan of his work.
"Miss Foley" (ZorialWater)
Age: ?
Bio: Little is known about her other than she is the clerk for a manga store in Nipponbashi and is friends with Will.
Scenarios:
(this will include various scenarios which only few characters will be put through each chapter; this has nothing to do with the story and is here to help me write these characters properly) (If you have some suggestions for the scenario, let me know)
Good job! You've just scored the highest test score in your class!
Nao Nakajima: No-no-no-no *pinches himself* I'm 100% positive I'm sleeping.
Yumi Arai: Holy crap! *realizes her cursing* Wait- I'm sorry- it's just I- *settles down* I am surprised.
Willow: Wow! Well I can't say I didn't expect it.
Aika Ito: Hah! This was cake the rest of the class just can't catch on.
Kanie Moto: No more, no less. Just as expected.
A/N:
Another chapter and a little bit more finished. This took me a little bit longer as I was sick writing the beginning of this chapter. And my sick writing is well… confusing. So after multiple revisions, here it is. Next chapter is the finale of this arc and a new one will begin. Expect to see new characters and more action in the next arc.