Chapter 7
Debt and Fear
A week later
Downtown
I once again make my way downtown. Most of the time, I just go there just just to go sightseeing. I want to get a good view of Saltwater City before I settle down in Oak Tree Town.
As I step out, the mild summer air embraces me. With a smile on my face, I walk toward the coast.
"Hey there, kid," I turn to whoever said that.
"How're you doing?"
Two tall and bulky men with hideous looks were the ones talking to me. They creep me out. I raise a brow silently.
"Mind if I borrow some cash of of ya?"
They don't look homeless judging by their fresh polos; they seem to be unsanitary as they have ketchup stains on their shirts.
"Yes."
"Well," he brandishes a switchblade, "Give it to me."
With no delay, I immediately run away. I look behind me and see both thugs in pursuit. I don't know how long I'll last before I start tiring.
Dammit! All I just wanted to do was a bit of sightseeing. I've been through like four stores, and I'm starting to wonder why I didn't call the Fuzz. Perhaps I'm too panicked at the moment?
This is pretty hectic. It's like I'm playing a brutal game of hide-and-seek, except the guy who's it will mug the person he'll find... scratch that. It's more like Manhunt, except, I'm literally being hunted down for my belongings. They both look tough and imposing, meaning my currently developing strength and fighting experience would do nothing. Either way, I'm too scared to fight despite me sometimes having sadistic thoughts of vengeance toward my little brother whenever he succeeds in bullying me. Also, no matter who it is, I'm still afraid of hurting people.
I'm hiding inside a Thrift Store, inside the dressing room, with my feet on the seat. My heart is beating fast, and I cover my mouth. My hyperventilating would make myself easier to spot.
"Where'd that pretty boy go?" one of the thugs says.
"Yeah, he's quite slender and has a nice butt."
Great, not only am I gonna be mugged, I'm also heavily implied to be raped.
I check my phone, about to call 911. Before I do that, I check if my phone is on silent. Its sound is still on, so I...
The sound of Halloween Theme shot out through the store. My eyes widen and my lips purse back.
Fuck, who's calling me at this time?!
I hear one of the thugs chuckling and the sound of a stilleto knife brandishing.
"Looks like we have a little Mack Meyers, eh?"
Motherbi-
All of a sudden, I hear the sound of metal striking bone, followed by a grunt of pain. I hear the same sound again, but this time, it's a bit farther away. I look below me and see a limp greasy hand. There's no sound of them chuckling or walking, so I decide to cautiously peak.
*creak*
I look at my small window of vision and find the two muggers knocked out. Amongst the limp muggers, a man that looks like the main character in that game about hacking. A metal retractable baton is held in his hand. Strangely, this guy seems familiar...
"It's safe," he says.
I raise my brow from him telling me the situation, but just got out anyway.
"... Who are you?" I ask the mysterious man.
"You don't remember?" he says, "Do you remember the time you used first aid on me?"
I squint my eyes and scan him for a bit. That coat, the hat... As soon as I finish, my eyes widen in surprise.
"It's you!"
He lowers his mask, revealing a smile. He nods in confirmation.
"... Wait, why are you doing this? Didn't you already pay your debt to me?"
"..."
All of a sudden, I see what looks like the thug's friends. During my escape, he probably gathered a bunch of their friends to mug me. I'm not part of the 1%, dammit!
In the blink of an eye, the man suddenly appears in front of the thugs and knocks out the first thug with an overhead punch. Another one has a metal baseball bat. The batter attempts to throw an overhead on the man, but the baton immediately sends the bat away. The man throws a powerful knee to his gut and extends it behind him, hitting the other thug. Another one latches on to his back but he reels back and leans forward, tossing the man into the street. I see another man trying to get up and trip him. Not wanting to be meek, I muster up my courage and run up to the downed man and throw a kick at his rib.
"Hey, get back!"
I found myself gripped from behind from one of the thugs knocked out. His hands are too strong, so I use my legs to kick him in the shin. He let go of my hands and I push him down. Due to the damage on his head plus the damage of being knocked out by a metal baton, it seems that he's a bit lightheaded from the fall. I kick his rib a few times until he passes out.
Despite me being a person who hates killing people, hurting someone out of self-defence for the first time feels... good. Despite this sadistic feeling, I shouldn't hit him any further; I don't want to risk getting arrested for manslaughter or murder. If I say it's for self-defence, I don't know what to say. Either way, I can't burden the responsibility of murder.
With no sign of other thugs looking for my ass, I let out a sigh of relief and call the Fuzz. After explaining the situation, I go up to the mysterious man.
"Thanks, man," I say to the stranger.
"After we tell the police about the sitch, come with me. We need to talk."
Italian Restaurant
"... just a spaghetti, please," I tell the waiter.
The mysterious man and I decide to talk to each other in a more private place. With some... coercion, we got the private dinner table in the local Italian Restaurant. I forgot what it was called. Degiorno Panacotta?
I look at the man. He took off his trenchcoat. Underneath the jacket is a white dress shirt and black tie with a black vest. He takes off his hat revealing his short dirty blonde hair. He has sharp blue eyes and has a scar by his lip.
"Who are you?" I ask the man.
"I'm Lucio," he says, "You can say I'm a hired guardian."
"Oh, well, I umm..." I look at my wallet.
I only have a few bucks and my debit card...
"Do not worry, friend," he says as he puts his hand over my arm, lowering it away from him, "Consider me saving you an altruistic act; you running away from those muggers made me go into action."
"... Thanks, Luc," I say nervously, "But, why did you bring me here?"
He looks left and right before speaking.
"While you saved me once, I can at least tell you of why I was running from those two students..."
Intriguing. I inch in closer.
"I'm listening."
Lucio's Story
First off, I'm actually a capo. My job is to provide protection at the right price. It all started a few days prior. Boston and Joey, through one of their friends, encountered me. Both of them are from rich families, so they had no problem in hiring me when they were under duress by one of the gangs they dealt with. During a deal, I managed to successfully neutralize an ambush, earning their satisfaction. After that, I demanded my pay. All of a sudden, I hear a gunshot; one of their other friends. Realizing my betrayal and trying to get rid of me before I die, I summon my own hidden pistol and shoot their friend dead.
They brandish their own guns and attempt to hunt me down in revenge. While I was a better shot, chances of me surviving were slim, especially when injured and outnumbered. In fact, their guns were SMGS, so I had to flee right away.
They feared that I would hunt them down, so they had to do it first. The day you found me, 2 hours prior, they got a whole group of people to shoot me down. I got shot in the leg and arm, but I managed to escape. I went to the mall, as to make them not use their guns in a public place; they dismiss their extra men.
I've run out of ammo, so I couldn't kill them from a distance. I had to go in hiding. When you found me, you basically saved my life. I managed to find a way to get back to my safehouse, and prepare for their next assault.
"So, are you just gonna kill them anyway?"
"Yes. They're greedy people who didn't pay my due," Lucio says angrily, "They had the money, and if they just paid it, there friend wouldn't have died!"
"... True, but why am I involved in this?" I reply, "I just saved your life and that's it? I don't want to join you or anything."
"I never asked for your permission to join," he says, "I'm merely telling you this because I've been observing you for a week."
My eye twitches from hearing this.
"For the past week, I felt that since you saved my life, I should save yours."
"And that's done. So, after this I-"
"But I realized something. Ever since you got yourself involved with Boston during your trip back home."
"How do you know this?!"
"Classified, but I mean no harm! I've dealt with them myself."
"..."
Part of me wants to leave due to this guy's creepy obsession over me, but the other part makes me want to stay. That part believes he's just trying to pay his debt in protecting me.
"... Look, I'm a guardian, so I must be around my client at all times."
"I'm your client...?"
"Yes... but since then, your life might be in danger," he says, "Those thugs carry the same insignia as the drug cartel Boston's friends were with."
"Leave me out of this!"
"I know that! Which is why I'm gonna destroy the root of the problem, then I'll get myself out of your life... um.." he says, "I'm sorry, er... what's your name?"
I sigh and give him my name.
"Johnny. Okay, I'm sorry, but since you might be a prime target of Boston's Cartel, I'm gonna have to be your bodyguard."
"But how are you gonna stop him from invading me when the knocked out bodies you'll leave will just attract bigger danger?"
"I have my ways, Johnny. Don't pry."
"... Do I have any big debt? My family is really poor, and so am I," I say sadly, mixing with a hint of fear.
"I won't ask for your whole fortune, nor any money. You are under gang threat, and you saved my life, so I should save yours... for free."
"How can I be certain I'll trust you, man? Are you trying to dupe me out?"
"I promise not to force money out of you. I'm hunting them down because they had money to pay me. You helped me, and I'm indebted. Plus, anyone who dupes it out in my gang is subjected to torture or death."
Lucio seems like a strong and serious man. While Nathan's work out sessions are great for increasing my overall body, I've always wanted to do some self-defence training as to not feel useless. Him fighting all my battles just seems forced for some reason. One part of me wants to help him, but the other part of me wants to avoid absolute bloodshed. I don't want to kill, but I want to grow strong, and Lucio's confident and serious approach to his job made me realize how weak and timid I am. I purse my lips and clench my fists.
"Something wrong?"
I suddenly awaken from my trance and look at him.
"I umm..." I scratch my head, "Err..."
"GET ON WITH IT!"
His voice is scary and powerful. I feel like my life's end will come soon if I don't say what I want.
"CAN YOU TRAIN ME IN SELF-DEFENCE!?"
I clench my eyes, afraid of his answer to my impulse.
"Do you really want to get involved in my job?!" he glares at me and points.
"N-no, s-since you're really strong, I noticed how weak, timid, and passive I was, and I want to become stronger..."
He puts a finger on his chin and ponders on my request. He shuffles through his pocket and looks at his phone, as if he's looking at a schedule.
"Why do you want to learn Self-Defence?"
"Well, it's one of my dreams to learn some form of martial arts or hand-to-hand combat," I say with slightly eager smile, "I'm afraid of killing, but I sometimes have a desire to hurt... though, I usually desire it out of retribution."
A wicked smile appears on his face. Am I supposed to be scared?
"Hmmm, you sure have a desire to hurt others," he says while scratching his chin, "Very well, punch me."
He stands up and I stand up too. He walks up to me and spreads his arms out.
"Come on!"
"I don't know about this..."
"PUNCH ME! JUST DO IT!"
I clench a fist and throw it into his chest. The man barely flinched much to my horror.
"Is that it?!"
He threw a back hand at my face, causing me to flinch a few steps back.
"Do something about it!"
I grit my teeth in anger and throw an uppercut to his chin. While his head was knocked upward, his body stood firm. He looks back at me. Despite some blood on his lower lip, he smiles.
"You're pretty good," he says proudly, "I'll be free on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays."
He did a light jab at my chest. It felt like some sort of "bro" gesture, so I did the same.
"Wait, no, how about this?" he says, "Make your right side face me."
I comply, and he turns so that his left side is facing me.
"Do a light backhand to my chest. Like this."
He does it on my chest.
"But do it the same time as me."
I nod and we both do the gesture. We both have a smile on our faces.
"... Do I need to pay or anything?"
"... Perhaps. You'll be treating me to meals whenever time calls for it."
I groan from hearing this. Well, I may as well spend a lot on my debit card.
"I'm kidding. You can pay for our meals if you want."
Train ride home
Lucio tagged along. For the first few parts, we didn't even talk to each other. He's a bit anti-social like me, but hey, I can't just ask him about his life just when I actually started to talk to him. Without any words spoken, I play my game.
"What is that?"
"It's a video game."
"Video game?"
"You've never heard of it? How old are you?" I ask with a skeptical look.
"I've been a capo for my whole life, all I've been doing is basically mercenary work, so I have no idea what this thing is."
"Well it's like a... err," I didn't know exactly how to explain it; he actually seems VERY oblivious to what normal people enjoy.
"Either way, it looks like a waste of time," he says, "I mean, look at your character fighting that giant monster. Why don't you actually try being as strong as him instead of controlling a person to do what you want?"
"It's just a game, dude," I reply, "I just want to enjoy myself."
"Okay."
"Besides, man, I'm trying to enjoy this as much as I can before I move out..."
"Move out?"
Should I tell him right now? I feel like I should tell him once we become better friends. In fact, while I'm his client, he could potentially be one of mine.
"Well, I don't want to talk about, but yeah, we should hang out sometime," I say with a nervous smile.
We are both hesitant. We don't really know what we'll say next. Despite our anxiety, Lucio overcame his first.
"You're my client. Why would you want to spend some time with me?"
I scratch the back of my head nervously.
"Well, you seem pretty cool, and while you seem very serious with your work, you should spend some time off. It's a lot better with someone else though."
He nods in confirmation.
"True" he pops out his phone, "Here's my number."
We both exchange our phone numbers and put it them back in our pockets as soon as we're done.
"I'll be relying on you for ideas of where to hang out."
"Why me?"
"Well... I'm merely a tourist right now, so I'm gonna assume you lived her long enough."
"... Good assumption."
I hear a brief "hmmm" sound from him. I wonder why he's doing that. Is he thinking of a topic? I need to think of one right now!
"... So, are you guys like drug traffickers or something?" I ask him.
"No. In fact, one of our main goals is to wipe out drug trafficking."
"Why? Aren't drugs like a big demand...? Just saying."
"True, but demand like that will lead to a corrupted ambition. Ever seen Scabface?"
"I've heard of it, though, it's mostly about some guy who started out poor, but became super rich through a cocaine empire."
"Exactly. In fact, drug kingpins like him only care about themselves. The drugs they sell are sold for high price and cause more damage than pleasure."
"So, are you trying to act like good guy gangsters or something?"
"... Don't pry! The only thing you should know is that we don't traffic drugs or humans. We kill people who do that."
"How are you so certain I can trust you?" I ask Lucio.
He sighs and reaches into his jacket. He pulls out a group of knives of various forms; from balisongs, switchblades, and actual combat knives. He immediately withdraws them.
"I've been in the gang life longer than you've breathed, young one. Through all those years, I've learned how to spot a despicable person or an innocent or kind hearted person."
He glares at me.
"You. You have a great potential to be trustworthy."
"Really?"
"Yes. From those two encounters, you show promise on being trustworthy and being reliable. You bought me first-aid despite it not being part of your plans, and you even joined me to fight one of the thugs that were chasing you despite having little physical strength."
"HEY!"
"I'm being honest here, kid. If someone is willing to help me with no ulterior motive, then he in my books is truly trustworthy."
"Thanks for the lesson, Luc," I say with a mix of sarcasm, "I just wanted to help you out simply because you were in need of help."
"I honestly would have considered killing you if you were a narc."
"Shut up."
Another awkward silence fills the space between us. He once again breaks the silence.
"Do you trust me?"
I ponder my trust between me and Lucio.
I basically met this guy only twice, and while I helped him recover, he also saved me from a group of thugs. He's also willing to protect me for free and offer me self-defence lessons. Betrayal or duping resulting in death or torture is still somewhat bullshit to me. I don't even know.
"... I don't know. I want to but-"
"Then just do it! Believe me. I know what betrayal is like. I've been through a lot more betrayal than you. I can't bear to bring myself to betray you... unless you're actually willing to betray me."
"No. I can't do that because it just feels wrong. The only time when I betray is that I feel that betraying that person is the right thing."
"Do you think betraying me is the right thing?" he says viciously.
"... No. I ain't one to screw over what you just did. I saved your life and you saved mine. Betraying you just doesn't make sense, and I won't really gain anything."
"... Very well. But for now, you're my client. We're not friends... or at least not yet. You don't have to trust me like you would to a friend. Just trust me that I can do my job well."
"Agreed."
Home
When I got home, Lucio stayed at the train station, taking the next train heading the opposite direction back home. I assured him that I'll be fine taking a bus home.
I don't know whether or not Boston's connections reach out to where I live. I don't even know why he's hunting me down. He probably figured out I lied, and is trying to kill me for not telling him the truth. The thought of that scares me, but come to think of it, he's just a fucking dick if he's doing that. He dragged me into his mess. Bitching to Lucio won't get me out of this mess or end it. I'm gonna have to trust him in doing his job. Nothing more. Nothing less.
I just want to get to farming. Situations like this make me want to leave the city life. For now, I should trust Lucio for now. Trusting him isn't 100% reliable, but is he just gonna do it himself?
I clench a fist and look at it. My eyebrows shift, forming an upside down semi-triangle. I have a serious look on my face.
"Either way, I need to get stronger. I'm not gonna let my dreams be dreams."
I'm not sure if he'll kill me on the spot for knowing about his situation out of paranoia, but if he did... My death would have just been for sport, because I never narc'd out on him.
Should I take lessons from him?
*rumble*
I check my phone and discover that I have a new message. I type my pin quickly and check the message.
Johnny, this is Lucio.
First off: Don't tell anyone about me. Whether you hate lying or not, don't mention anything about me. You can tell your family that you're taking martial arts lessons, but just say it never needed parental permission... considering you ARE an adult. As for cost? Tell them something like one of your friends paid for it. Here's the thing: I'm NOT your friend, and don't make up an identity for me.
Second: Tomorrow is Friday, but I've caught one of Boston's colleagues. He's bearing the same mark, so I plan to interrogate him. Don't try looking for me. Saturday and Sunday may not end up being free, so next week might work just in case.
Third: Since the last message never stated my full address, I will tell you when I'm available. Memorize it and then delete the message. I'm not certain that your phone might be checked on by your family. Write it in ink or something, but put it on a piece of paper. When you do, memorize it and burn it away.
Till then...
Also, delete this message, or record it on a piece of paper before you delete it. If you've done the latter keep it well hidden, and when you memorize it... yeah, you get the idea.
I swear, this guy is very threatening. I don't know whether it's comically fearsome, or pure, primal fear. I squint my eyes and frown, unsure of either. Guess that's what it's like for being in the mafia... or Yakuza... or whatever gang involves dudes in suits.
Author's Note
You're probably wondering: "Why isn't he at Oak Tree yet?" or somewhere along the lines with anything that is relevant to Story of Seasons.
While both Lucio and Nate are both helping Johnny become a better person, Nate's focus on Johnny's improvement is education and health, while Lucio's is something else. Also, like Nate, Lucio will have a similar role to Nate: core supporting character. Plus, Johnny had always dreamed of being able to fight despite his goal for a somewhat peaceful life at Oak Tree Town.
SoS aside, I started playing Rune Factory. I'm currently at the first one and I'm going for Felicity. The reason for it is because I seem to like her gentle nature and find her really beautiful. I initially considered Mist, but, as cute and spunky as she is, she's pretty weird, and the game pushes you and her WAY too hard. Right now, I was gonna consider Rosetta, or Melody (due to me using her Baths a lot). I might go for Rosetta more due to my rival being an annoying poet, but Melody's a low chance due to me finding my rival for her (Camus) a total bro.
The only problem I have with playing it is that I'm not playing it like Harvest Moon. Dungeon crawling and defeating monsters without having to kill them is just too much fun. I'm still in the first season and I've already cleared three dungeons; I feel like I'm going through the game pretty fast. Still, right now, I'm taking my time to actually play it like Harvest Moon. I'm mixed with the fields in the dungeons. It's good because it's like a free greenhouse, but sometimes, there are enemies nearby that are pretty annoying like those FREAKING bees, or there's no convenient water source nearby (sometimes, though, I kinda regret planting pineapples at Clemens Cavern). Worst part: I just finished Mt. Gigant, and I have to wait for the water around my next dungeon to freeze (it honestly looks like anyone could just jump over it).
Time to wrap up this note. Leave a review, fave, or follow, and I'll see you... some other time when I'm not busy with school... next month... or months.
