Shouichi POV

The kid looks a bit shook. "Hey kid!" he turns to me with wide eyes. "What's your name?" I ask him.

He then frowns "I don't see a reason to tell you that."

I then look at him with a dull expression and quirked an eyebrow "Are you really saying that to the guy who can kick your ass in less than a minute?". He then quickly apologises. He introduces himself as Takeshi Asakura. I then turn to the kid. "Hey kid. Why don't we take this conversation elsewhere ?" he shrugs at me.

I then lead him to a nearby parking lot before bringing him to my motorcycle, he looks at it before looking at me "Hey, if you wanna stay here then that's fine. You just have have to watch out for the boys in blue." he turns around to see the police handcuffing the remaining members of the group. One of the policemen who was in the middle of a call decided to take a look around and saw both me and Takeshi. He hung up the phone and approached us.

" Good evening gentlemen. You wouldn't happen to have seen any suspicious people running away from here for the past moments have you?" he then looks over to Takeshi and sees his jacket. He eyes Takeshi warily.

Just as he was about to call his partner, I intervene "Excuse me officer, it seems to have been a misunderstanding. You see, I was in the middle of making sure that my employee wasn't going to make a stupid decision that may have costed his future this evening. You see, he had been pressured by his fellow colleagues into joining them. He is a college student who didn't want to be left alone by his fellow peers so he joined them in doing these activities as a way of showing his loyalty and use to them. But as you can see, I've managed to talk him out of it and we were about to be on our way to my restaurant. Don't worry I'll give him a good earful once we get back."

The policeman looks at him before sighing and putting his hand on Takeshi's shoulder "Kid, you've got a bright future ahead of you. You're lucky you have someone like him to keep you in check or else you would've ended up like your friends over there. Look, there are better things to do in life kid and this ain't one of em." he tips his hat and goes back to making a call.

Takeshi looks at me "A college student? Really?" I then look at him "Could you have come up with anything better? Plus, you're wearing that jacket so I don't think that it would have made anything you would've said better. Well, hop on."

I made space for him on my motorcycle while he was getting onto it. I then went out of the parking lot before heading to my restaurant.

Takeshi POV

When we arrived there I decided to take a look at the restaurant and saw the word that was enlarged in front of it.

AGITĪ©

I then looked at him. He gave me sheepish smile while rubbing the back of his head "I really couldn't think of anything else to name this restaurant so I decided to go with AGITĪ©."

"Why?" I ask him."Sentimental purposes" he says. He then opens the door and I follow him inside, only to be greeted by a large number of people in their tables eating or finishing and asking for the bill.

"Good evening Shouichi." says a rather eye-catching blonde with beautiful green eyes who just finished serving a couple their food before approaching us. "Good evening Lisa." he says to her in a friendly manner. "I would like to have a table for two, if that would be possible. Dont worry, his meal is on the house." Lisa then looks quirks an eyebrow at him "If you say so." she replies before leading us to a rather nice sized table with two antique looking chairs and a small vase of flowers filled with water on top.

"You've got quite the charmer here, I'd never thought that I'd hear someone call me eye-catching and also complement my eyes as well." she looks at me seductively. I felt me face heat up before realising what she said "Wait, can you-

"No, I can't read minds. Good guess though." she smirks at me, as though she knows something that I don't. "Well if thats all, then may I take your order?" she asks. I began fumbling with my collar as I didn't know what to order. Shouichi as if knowing my predicament says to Lisa "Get him a beef steak. You know what, surprise us."

Lisa looks surprised "You're not gonna do it?". "No, I just want to know what you can do with the knowledge and skills that ive taught you these past years. Consider this a test to see whether you're ready to advance to a higher level. Do your best and don't forget to put your heart and soul in your cooking." he says in lighthearted tone

"Y-yes, Chef." she says before rushing to the kitchen with a determined expression.

"What's with her?" I ask him. I expect an answer, only to get silence. He then looks at me and sighs "Look, kid. It's not my place to tell. Maybe she'll answer you once you get to know her better. It's very rare for her to be able to show her use without anyone wanting to use her for their own agenda, so you have to understand that this means a lot to her."

I then nod my head in understanding."Wait, once I get to know her better?"

Shouichi POV

"Yeah kid your gonna be working under me from now on." He seems so surprised at my statement. "What, did you think robbing women and ganging up on unsuspecting people will make you lots of money? Yeah, not in the long run though."

"I don't even have an ID card- "We'll get to that later. Now, I want to know what made you join th ABB.

Takeshi looks at me before pulling his collar a bit revealing a burn mark."At the age of 13, I accidentally burnt down my house killing both my parents and my younger brother. I was outside to play when it happened. When I came home I heard them screaming and begging for someone to help them. I didn't help them because I was scared that they would blame me for what happened. So I ran away knowing that I could've saved them if I acted faster." Takeshi looks at me, but I motion him to continue.

He sighs "A couple of days after that, I began living off the streets. It was during that time that I got forcefully recruited into the ABB. During my time as a member I did anything that was asked by those who had a higher ranking than me. However I've never raped anyone during my time as a member of the ABB. I've only suggested others to do those things as I cannot stomach the feeling of ruining someone's innocence- "Yet, you allowed your group to assault and rape a woman."

Takeshi POV

I'm starting to feel angry, but that anger soon fades as I know what he says is true. "I just didn't want to look weak in front of the others so that they can't take advantage of me. I know I'm not what you expected as you probably despise me more than befor-

"I am sure that you are aware that every bad decision that you made in your life up to this point wasn't influenced by anyone else. I would like to believe, that everyone deserves a second chance. It is up to them whether they want to use it wisely or not. Well! Would you look at that? Our food is done!"

He says in a rather jovial tone.

I turn around to see Lisa holding a tray with two plates. She puts the plates "Voila! Two plates of ratatouille specially made for the head chef and his honoured guest."

I took a bite and was assaulted by an abundance of flavours. I could taste the tang thanks to the sharpness of the tomatoes and peppers, the eggplant and squash taste sort of spongy and bland while taking on some of the tang of the acidics, and herbs, salt and pepper, and oil. I've never tasted anything like this in my entire life!

"Judging by your pleased expression, it's safe to say that you enjoyed your meal. Now does it fit your criteria head chef?" she says to Shouichi expectantly.

Well, both the tomatoes and the squash are a tad bit overcooked and you accidentally added a bit more oil than it should be, overall it was a great dish nonetheless and I could feel that you put your heart and soul into this dish that you made for use. We'd like to thank you for this wonderful dish that you've made for us. Well, you can go back to serving the customers as I've got to set up the room for your soon to be colleague."

"Oh! Before that. Let me introduce you to your soon to be partner, Takeshi Asakura."

he says before motioning towards her. "Oh! Uhh, my name is Takeshi Asakura and I am pleased to make your acquaintance." I reply.

"Loosen up a bit, will you? You could've just introduced yourself the normal way. Well, I guess it's up to me to help you loosen up. It seems that my presence is required elsewhere so I pray that we cross paths again in the future." she replies before heading to the table to take the orders of and an elderly couple.

Shouichi then stands up and asks me to follow him up the stairs.

Shouichi POV

"Well, we're here.". He looks around the room as if reminiscing of something. "Look, I know this isn't much but this is the best that we can do for no- " Why are you so nice to me?" he looks at me with a bewildered expression."Wow kid, you really like interrupting people when they talk don't you? Well, to tell you the truth. I guess I hate seeing people like you having their potential wasted due to their own actions or the actions of others. So I've decided to take you in as my protege."

He blinked."You want me to fight crime while wearing some outdated 70s Japanese hero costume as your sidekick?".

"It's up to you how you want to interpret it. I'm just giving you the tools needed. I could teach you how to cook. But that's up to you really." I reply.

"Well, goodnight. I trust that you won't raid the pantry while I'm away. I can't be there to keep you in check all the time. See you tomorrow and wake up early.". I then walked down the stairs.

"It's not even midnight!" he shouts to me.

"Look, my restaurant closes early as it's not safe to wander around these parts because you know, The Merchants and other things. Use all the time you have wisely as you're gonna be waking up early tomorrow. So I suggest that you sleep in early." I reply loudly from down the staircase.

"Hey, Boss! I'm gonna be going home late. Tell Brian and the rest to not wait for me. I've got some business with him." she says to me.

"Well, don't forget to lock the doors and clean the dishes. By the way, if Alec is still sleeping then please wake him up and tell him that I will dock his pay if he forgets to do the dishes again." I remind her before exiting the restaurant.

"You got it boss!" yells Lisa as I head to my motorcycle and start it up.

Takeshi POV

I see him leaving with his motorcycle through the small window of the upper floor. The room he gave me is not quite bad. There's a mattress, some pillows and a blanket alongside a working air conditioning sytem. Heh, better get some sleep while i can.

??? POV

So, this is what earth-bet's Takeshi Asakura looks like. He's a bit tame compared to his original counterpart. I guess that's for the better. I wonder if he'll accept his original advent deck and continue a path filled with bloodshed. I guess we will have to wait.