Author's rant: I'm back!
After spending a long time living in the darkness, to be able to see the sunlight again with my own eyes... it's too good to be described by words
Thank you everyone have supported me and haven't unfollowed me after nearly a year. Time to get back now
Chapter 4:
"Everything has its beginning. But it doesn't start at "One"... It starts long before that, in chaos. The world is born... from zero. The moment zero becomes one is the moment the world springs to life. One becomes two, two becomes ten, ten becomes 100. Taking it all back to one solves nothing. So long as Zero remains, one... will eventually grow to 100 again."
[Unknown place, 2 years ago]
On a headland facing the sea under the starry sky, there were a large vine-like and spiral-shaped tree that was called Million Tree along with numerous Food Immersion Flowers growing well around the tree despite the land had dried up a long time ago.
And on the flower bed growing aroung the tree, a young man with ivory hair who was clad in a black suit along with a white shirt, a black tie which was tied in the most bizarre way that no one could imagine, black shoes and a black fedora hat could be seen sitting for the past five days, his grey eyes had a sad yet faraway look as he silently gazed at the Million Tree that was used as the gravestone for his adopted old man.
In the world full of unfairness, if there was anything given to all equally, it was Birth and Death. Even though the young man knew that the day his old man would travel to the afterlife would come sooner or later but... This was still too hard for him to accept...
"Hey Eiji" the sound of someone sat down next to him along with a familiar voice reached his ears "Wanna have a drink?"
"Mansam." The young man acknowledged the presence of the middle-aged man with a nod, his eyes never left the spiral-shaped tree.
"Did you just call me handsome?" said Mansam delightfully
"In your dream, drunkard." said the young man sardonically, much to the muscular man's disappointment though he still let out a laugh at the young man's sardonic reply
"The Milky Way tonight is really beautiful, isn't it? Though I really think you should learn to tie your tie properly." chuckled Mansam while offering a dish toward the young man "Here, have some edamame beans"
"... I don't think I could swallow anything right now..." said the young man, not even caring to take a glance at the offering dish
Shaking his head, the spiky hair middle-aged man let out an unnoticeable sigh as he took out a jar along with three cups and put them on the flowers bed.
"This is the one and only liqour that Ichiryu-sama liked." Said Mansam as he started filling said cups with the beverage in the jar. This quickly gained the attention of the young man as he glance slightly at the cups
"... The old man was a weak drinker, wasn't he?" said the young man with his eyebrows raised a little bit
"... This is Maboro Sake, though it's not an illusion(*) or anything like that. It's just a normal alcoholic drink you can easily get and it's not too strong. Personally, I'm not exactly fond of it." Said Mansam as he offered a cup to the young man "Here, let's lift the glass, shall we?"
Eyeing the cup almost lazily, the young man took the offered cup and take a small sip before releasing a small wistful sigh
"... This flavor seems very much like him... Simple but really nostalgic..."
"Agree." Chuckled Mansam as he put a cup under the Million Tree as he picked up the final cup and gulfed down the liquor in one go "No doubt, Ichiryu-sama truly was the best man in the world. Same goes for his kindness..."
"... Yeah." Said the young man as he took another sip.
The two men just sat there, continuing to drink the beverage in a comfortable silence as each of their mind went after their own train of thought.
"... Are you really going to leave?" asked Mansam as he poured another cup for himself and gulfed down in one go
The young man just gave a small nod as he finished his cup.
"So you won't change your mind." Sighed the middle-aged man as the young man's eyes turned toward the Milky Way
"... I need to see The Eight King and also..." said the young man with a very small hint of hesistance "... I... need to find my answer..."
"... If that's what you want then so be it..." said Mansam somberly before he gulfed down another cup "... Though can I have a conversation with him? Privately?"
The young man raised his eyebrows a little at the sudden request of Mansam but seeing his earnest expression, the young man just nodded slightly before his skin colored slowly changed from light tanned to pale as the moon, his grey eyes slowly turned black while a red tattoo-liked mark running over his left eyes appeared on his face.
"Speak." The young man said in a gruff voice as Mansam simply gave a nod before offered a cup to the young man.
Time to lift the glass.
[Present, the next morning]
Orange
The moment Sayo's eyes slowly opened, pale orange color was the first thing she saw and she could feel she was engulfed in a warm and soft sensation as she could feel barely any pain from the wounds she had been inflicted on.
Was she dead?
Was this heaven?
"Oh you're awake!" came a unfamiliar soft voice that quickly gained Sayo's attention.
Was that the voice an angel? Sayo couldn't help but wonder
Turning her head to her right, she saw a beautiful girl with long brown hair tied into a pony tail with two long bangs on the sides of her face, light green eyes and the number "IV" on the middle of her forehead . She was clad in a long-sleeved short dress with sleeveless green vest, brown gloves, long brown stockings, green socks, brown boots while on her hands was a tray that carried some strange liquid in some bottles.
"How are you feel now?" the girl asked her kindly
"... Am I... dead?" asked Sayo hesistantly "... Is this place... Heaven?"
This brought a smile to the face of the unfamiliar girl as she shook her head slightly
"No, you're still alive." Said the beautiful girl as she put the tray on her hands on a table near there "How are you feeling now?"
"... I feel... warm... " said Sayo as she tried to sit up but a sudden tiredness washed over her, preventing her from getting out of her current position.
"Take it easy there." Said the girl as she helped Sayo sit up and let the black hair girl's back leant onto the headbed, which gave Sayo the chance to find out she was in a small windowless bedroom with a droplet-shaped lamp as the main source of light in the room instead of the torture room in her blurry memory "While all your wounds has closed, your body are still weak due to the malnutrition. Here, drink this."
Carefully holding the glass, Sayo eyed the brown liquid with a suspicious look, which couldn't be help due to her last experience with the food offered to her, before she looked up at the beautiful girl who was standing near her bed. Just who was this person? How did she end up here? And more importantly, how was Ieyasu?
"Who... are you?" asked Sayo warily
"My name is Four." Replied the girl kindly as Sayo was clearly taken back by how strange the name was "And don't worry, it's a medicine that can help you recover your strength. Drink it and I will try to answer your questions as best as I can."
[Meanwhile]
Tatsumi was crying. Not because of hurt, pain, anguish or anything like that.
It was because of happiness as well as the food that he had just hungrily wolfed down a moment ago. Just like all the others customers in the Ichiryu's Bar.
After his first day in the Capital where he had been scammed all of his money by "the blond onee-chan", refused to be lodged by all the people he had asked which had led him spend the cold night in a dirty alley with an empty stomach, he had started losing his hope in the kindness of the Capital's citizen. But now...
"Do you want a second serving, Tatsumi?" asked the waitress, who was clad in a rather revealing blue outfit with long blue gloves and a long blue scarf as she had short and slight messy blue hair and light blue eyes, in a cheerful voice. Though what gained most of his attention about her was the roman numeral "II" on her forehead.
"Yes! Aahh... I mean, yes, if I could..." said Tatsumi as he blushed furiously while trying to keep his eyes away from her chest as well as her hip. Even though he had had to stand in a very long line for nearly two hours so that he could eat free, it was totally worth it! And he also needed to thank the old lady who had told him about this bar as well as all the Gods out there for making the owner open the bar today...
"Huh? Why was it so noisy outside?" mused the blue hair waitress after returning and putting another serving in front of Tatsumi. This quickly gained Tatsumi's attention as he turned his head toward the door of the bar
"Out of my way, you lowly cunt!" came a loud voice as the door of the bar was opened violently before a a large muscular man in Imperial Police armor with an unusual hairstyle with four ponytails or braids on the back of his head wrapped in white cloth, a large star-shaped scar over his missing left eye while his remaining eye was red with a black sclera stepped inside. Following behind him was two other guards who were also in Imperial Police armor.
The presence of the muscular man quicly brought the fear to the face of many customers, all of them seemed coming from the poor, much to Tatsumi's alert and confusion. Just who was this person?
"Give me and my fellow all the best food you have here!" roared the muscular man as he violently shoved some customers from their seats before taking said seats for their own, which made Tatsumi's blood boil. But much to Tatsumi's surprise, all the waitresses seemed liked they weren't fazed by the muscular man's anger even a little bit as the waitress, who in Tatsumi's opinion was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen, with long white hair and was clad in a revealing white dress, white socks, black high heeless heels and a black bow on top of her head approached the muscular man with a bored look
"Who are you?" asked the waitress somewhat haughtily and despite her bored look, Tatsumi could tell this waitress was really irritated just by the presence of the man as well as his two goons if her twitching left eyebrow indicated anything.
"I'm Ogre, Imperial Police Captain and the king of the city!" boasted Ogre with arrogance and pride, showing his sharp teeth before he nodded his head toward his goons. Needless to say, the man's attitude really annoyed Tatsumi "And these are my underlings, Signed and Vorge."
"Want to go out with me, beauty?" said the guard, whom Tatsumi assumed was Vorge, with a shit-eating grin while the other guard forcefully groped the waitress's rear.
*CRUNCH!*
Before Tatsumi could blink, the guard was knocked into the air and flew toward the door by a right hook from the waitress as the sound of jaw breaking made him sweat nervously. Just what kind of strength did this waitress possess?
"You bitch!" screamed the other guard as he thrusted his sword toward, but the waitress just simply side-stepped the incoming sword before holding onto the arm holding sword and used the momentum to spin the guard to the other direction...
"Grah!"
... which (un)fortunately was the direction the self-proclaimed king of the city was coming for a sneak attack as Ogre let out a scream of agony. Having a sword pierced through the left shoulder was not a good experience after all
"B-boss..." sputtered the guard incoherently only for the waitress to grap his left arm and twist it backward with a sound that made Tatsumi cring. The final guard fell on his knees, his arm was bent into a very scary angle that was more than enough to remind Tatsumi one thing he had nearly forgotten:
Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.
"Now get the hell out the here!" grapping the colar of the three men, the waitress literally threw them out of the bar with little effort. Slapping her hands together, the waitress turned her glare toward the jaw-dropping customers in the bar
"What?" one word and the customers were ready to jump out of their seats as Tatsumi was ready to hide under the table out of fear.
"Oh please don't mind her." Said the large breasts waitress in black revealing clothings with long blond hair, which reminded Tatsumi a little too much about the 'onee-san' that had tricked him the previous day, and a roman numeral 'V' on her forhead "She's just having some 'woman' frustration."
"Just shut the fuck up, Five." snarled the waitress with a hint of disdain in her tone as Tatsumi couldn't help but notice the name of the blond waitress. Five? As in number?
"Oh, such vulgar mouth. It makes my juice flowing, Zero." Moaned Five sensually as Tatsumi blushed at her words "You really need to release your pent-up desire . Too bad you will have to wai..."
*CRASH!*
A chair literally flew past Tatsumi's head and slammed into a wall instead of Five, who had easily dodged the flying object.
In just one second, Tatsumi felt like all of his past life had played in front of his eyes. He came here for a meal, not to be killed by a freaking flying chair thrown by a waitress, no matter how beautiful she was! He needed to get out of here ASAP! For the sake of his life! Second serving be damned!
"I. Said. Shut..." growled Zero but before she could finish her sentence and Tatsumi could even move from his seat...
"Why is it so noisy out here?"
A rather blank and lazy voice stopped both him and Zero.
... The kitchen door opened as a food troller pushed by a young man about a few years older than Tatsumi appeared. His ivory hair was rather messy with the bang of his hair slightly covered his right grey eye. If it hadn't been for the stained white grey apron, Tatsumi would have thought this young man was a waiter, not a cook.
"Oh, Chef. Just some trashes got in, got out and the usual bickering between Zero and Five." Said another waitress lazily. This waitress had violet eyes, dark violet hair just passed her shoulder and a roman numeral "III" on her forehead.
Wait, this person was the 'Chef' Tatsumi was told about?! So that meant this person was the same owner of this bar?! Tatsumi couldn't help but be surprised. This person was only a few years older than him! And throwing chair at each other was not bickering!
"Okay." Nodded the young man "Now help me with serving the dishes."
Wait, that was it, screamed Tatsumi in his mind. Why had he acted as if these things were usual...
Oh, right. The waitress with dark violet hair did say this was usual...
"Hey Chef!" a familiar voice reached Tatsumi's ears, making his eyes widen "Give me that Summer Whiskey and Cheese Cabbage again!"
"You!" shouted Tatsumi as he pointed at the owner of the voice who had just entered the bar "You're the one who swindled my money!"
"Hey hey, what're you talking abou..." said Leone with a small hint of nervous but before she could finish her sentence...
"Is that true, Leone?"
... the apathetic voice of Chef stopped her, his stoic grey eyes looked straight at the now nervous blond hair young woman, daring her to lie even a word to him
"... Um... Well... I-I just intended to give him a lesson about trusting..." stuttered Leone as she sweated while Tatsumi couldn't help but shudder.
This person... Even though his tone laced no emotion, he could feel the coldness radiating and aiming as the busty blond hair girl. This 'Chef' person clearly wasn't someone he would want to anger. And the moment Chef briefly took a glance at Tatsumi...
"Erk!" squealed Tatsumi as he nearly fell out of his chair. In a split second, Tatsumi could swear he saw a bald man with pale skin and a red stripe tatoo ran over his left eye was glaring at him with a look filled killing intent instead of the ivory hair young man.
Just what the hell did he get into?
"So you did swindle him." Stated Chef as his eyes felt like they were piercing throught Leone's soul and for a moment, Tatsumi almost pitied the blond hair young woman.
Almost.
"Wait wait! I intended to return his money to him! I swear! Honest!" cried Leone desperately and Tatsumi could see a small amount of fear in her eyes
"Leone. From now on, you're banned from coming to my bar." Said Chef emotionlessly before returning to the kitchen "Zero, do the honor."
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! PLEASE! ANYTHING BUT THAT!" and it was all Leone managed to scream before Zero held onto her scarf and literally threw her out of the bar
(Chapter end)
(*) Maboro sake (まぼろ酒) is a a pun referring to 'maboroshi' (meaning 'illusion').