Chapter 12: The Aftermath of the Attack

"Ruby! Aqua!" Ai screamed as she jumped up from her slumber.

She had a terrible dream of her children being attacked by a stranger, a result of the fear she had from the attack last night. Ai had to still her breathing and get herself back into check.

"Ai, are you ok?" She heard Miyako ask.

"Miyako-San?" She asked in confusion.

Ai was still on the couch, though she had a pillow and blanket on her, which kept her warm. She was still dressed in her clothes, but she had a light sheen of cold sweat that made them slightly damp.

"Oh, just a bad dream." Miyako said.

"What happened?" She asked.

"You were asleep sitting up when we got here." Miyako said as she sat down next to Ai. "We just made you a bit more comfortable." She said.

Miyako had a spare key in case she needed to drop things off at the house, so she was easily able to get in.

"Is she awake?" Ai heard the President come into the room from the main hall.

"Yea, just still a bit shaken up." Miyako said.

"I'm glad." He said as he sat on the opposite side of Ai. "Are you doing ok Ai?" He asked in a concerned tone.

Suddenly, all the fear and terror from last night hit Ai. With no adrenalin or protective maternal instincts to clear her mind, Ai felt the full force of what happened last night hit her.

"I-" She struggled to say as her eyes began to leak tears of fear and sadness.

Ai fell into Miyako's arms as she started to cry and sob. Her confident and protective persona now gone and in its place was the fear and terror of a young girl who nearly lost her life. She sobbed into Miyako's arms, who rubbed her back and told her it would be ok. Ichigo stayed quiet through the whole thing, unable to speak because of his own fears of losing the girl who he saw as a daughter.

Miyako felt sad and guilty, knowing there was a point in time where she was almost the cause of this. If it wasn't for that divine moment where Kami possessed the kids, she would have been the one to ruin Ai's life.

"It's ok Ai, you're safe." Ichigo said as he placed a hand on her back and rubbed it. He wasn't good at comforting people.

"Aqua." She cried. "He was so small and helpless." She sobbed.

"Is he ok?" Miyako asked, her own heart stopped when she heard he was potentially hurt.

"He held him by his neck and held a knife to his throat. He looked so tiny and scared." She sobbed.

"They're sleeping Ai." Ichigo said. "We checked on them, they're fine. Just sleeping."

"We'll have breakfast prepared for you." Miyako said. "It's zero seven so it's still early."

"Mama?" They heard a tiny voice as Ruby opened the door.

Ruby stood looking at the group, her eyes were sad, and she looked just as tiny and vulnerable as Aqua did last night.

"Ai turned away from her daughter for a moment to wipe her eyes of tears. She took a deep breath before turning back to her daughter.

"Did you sleep ok Ruby-Chan?" Ai asked in a loving voice.

Her eyes, although dry of tears, still had some redness around them. She smiled and her voice didn't waiver.

Ruby may have gotten their attention, but Aqua opened the door first. He saw Ai crying and sobbing into Miyako's arms.

"Were you crying mama?" Ruby asked.

"Nope." Ai smiled. "Mama is too strong to cry. they're just red because mama slept on her face." She lied.

Aqua saw once again how much of an expert Ai was at lying. Even with all these emotions and fears she was experiencing right now, still she showed a calm, loving, and confident mother persona when her children were around. Any pain or hesitation in her voice was gone, replaced with a sweet and beautiful voice that made even him calm and feeling safe.

If there was ever a time he truly admired her ability to lie, it was here. She ensured that no matter how she felt, her children would feel safe and secure while she was there.

"Oh no, Aqua." Ai got up and ran to her son. She almost slid on the floor as she got on her knees in front of him.

"What?" He asked.

Ai traced a finger along his neck, making him wince slightly from the pain on his neck. Her face went from loving to concerned when she saw him wince.

"You have a bruise all over your neck." She said. "Stupid!" She berated herself. "I was so caught up in my thoughts I didn't make sure you were ok. Don't worry, mama will get some ice."

Ai stood up and ran to the freezer. She pulled out some ice from the tray and placed it in a plastic Ziplock bag before sealing it. She then wrapped it in a paper towel in order to ensure the ice didn't touch his skin directly. After she was done, she almost slid to her knees again and gently placed it on his neck.

"It's ok." She soothed as Aqua winced again. "Just keep this on so you can get better."

"I don't think that's how that works exactly." Aqua argued.

He saw the bruising and it actually wasn't bad. You actually don't want to ice minor bruises all that much. Bruising is the body's natural way of inducing blood flow in a damaged area in order to repair it in a faster way. This is why bruising occurs. You only want to apply liberal amounts of ice if there is swelling that could otherwise impede movement or normal bodily functions.

"Nonsense, mama is always right." Ai said, her lack of medical knowledge apparent.

Despite his years of medical school, no one would listen to a child. He also didn't want to explain how he knew so much, so Aqua relented and grabbed the ice pack and held it to his neck.

"There, doctor Ai is here to help." She smiled.

She tried so hard to keep her children's mind off of what happen that Aqua could legitimately not see the fear and sadness she expressed earlier.

"Ai, we need to talk." President Ichigo said.

"Ok." She said.

"We need to know what happened last night." He said.

"And an explanation why me and my husband had to clean blood and teeth off of the floor." Miyako said.

Ai got up and sat on the couch, Ruby and Aqua on each of her knees as Ruby held onto Ai and Aqua maintained the ice bag on his neck. Aqua removed the ice from his neck after a bit.

"No Aqua-Chan, keep the ice on." Ai said.

He relented again, though didn't put pressure since if you did ice, you actually only wanted to leave it on for no longer than fifteen minutes before removing it. Since there was no swelling, he felt five minutes would be too much. But no one argues with doctor Ai apparently, though he'd like to see her PhD.

"Ai." Ichigo got her attention again.

Ai explained everything that happened. The initial attack where Ryosuke barged in with a knife to Aqua's throat, how he said typical stalkerish and psychotic things, and threatened her and her children. Ai explained only the facts of what happened, but intentionally left out her feelings or fears while Aqua and Ruby were present.

"Did you have to fight him off?" Miyako asked, referring to the blood she found which clearly wasn't theirs.

"No, the door was still open, so Eren actually came over." She said.

"Eren came in?" Ichigo asked.

"Yes, he protected us." Ai said. "Then he left... well, more like ran away." She clarified.

"What did he do?" Ichigo asked.

"He, fought him off." Ai's persona broke a moment as even Ichigo could tell that was a lie.

"Ai, I need to know what Eren did." He said.

Ai remained silent, looking down and was too unsure of what to say. She didn't want to say what Eren did because she knew exactly how Ichigo would react.

"Did he stab him Ai?" Ichigo asked.

"How did-" She was cut off.

"Look." Ichigo opened his phone.

Since Ai used both her hands to balance her children on her knees, Ichigo held the phone to her face so she could read the news article from this morning. It was an article on Ryosuke found a few kilometers away with a knife in his chest. It was assumed he escaped from his attacker, but he died on the street in the middle of the night before the police found him. It was so late that some eye witnesses saw him limp but assumed he was drunk, not noticing the knife that was lodged in his chest.

"Is that the man who attacked you?" Ichigo asked.

Ai's silence confirmed it. Ichigo sighed as he put his phone down, ensuring that the kids couldn't see it.

Aqua wasn't surprised he died. Chest wounds were dangerous if you didn't get immediate medical help. Under the ribs was the chest cavity, which is a vacuum inside the body that allows the lungs to expand. As the diaphragm contracts, air rushes into the lungs due to the pressure difference between the chest cavity and the lungs. If air was introduced into the chest cavity, the lungs would be unable to expand, and the person would be unable to breath. Since there was a knife in him, it likely allowed air to enter without escaping.

Ryosuke likely died of asphyxiation as long as there wasn't any internal bleeding. His fear and adrenalin kept him running into the night until lack of oxygen caused him to make poor decisions, such as not getting help. He was like an animal that was shot by a hunter by that point.

"Did Eren kill him?" He asked.

"No!" Ai defended quickly. "Eren tried to wrestle the knife free, and it accidentally hit Ryosuke."

Aqua raised his eyebrow. Did Ai remember things differently or was she intentionally lying to protect Eren.

"Ai, it was a kitchen knife. And according to the article, it went through the rib cage and went down to the handle in his chest." Ichigo said.

"He could have fell on it." Ai tried.

"Ai, you don't accidentally get it that deep while breaking through a rib." Ichigo said. "Eren stabbed him, didn't he?"

Ai had no argument anymore.

"Ai, I'm glad he protected you, but it's still murder." Ichigo said.

"Eren protected us!" Ai defended.

"The Police won't see it that way." Ichigo said. "Even if the kid attacked first, Eren is a foreigner. A criminal investigation and trial would be rigged against him. You know how poorly the legal system treats foreigners."

"No one will know it's him." Ai said. "We're not contacting the police, so we don't have to say anything."

Aqua saw the logic in that. With the knife in his chest preventing blood from leaking, it's very likely that there wasn't a blood trail that would lead back to them. Only his mouth bled and not nearly enough to leave a trail back to their home.

"Ai, he had to have done this before." Ichigo said.

"We don't know that." Ai argued.

"He killed a man with no hesitation. A normal person doesn't just bury a knife into someone's chest or crush their face with his hands. Yea, the article mentions that his upper jaw was cracked, and his molars are missing. I'm assuming the teeth we cleaned up was because of Eren."

"But he protected us." Ai tried again.

"Damn it Ai!" Ichigo grabbed Ai by the shoulders, scaring Ruby and Ai both. "I almost lost you today and you're defending someone as dangerous as him!?" Ichigo yelled in frustration.

"If anything happened to me-" Ai tried to say.

"I don't give a damn about B-Komachi!" Ichigo said angrily. "I almost lost you today. You think I care about that when after all this time I've been the one looking out for you? Do you think that if you died, that I could just go and find someone else. Even if the new person was better and more popular, do you think I'd want that?"

Why couldn't this dumb girl see how much Ichigo cared about her? She was basically like a daughter to him. He basically raised her and even helped to care for her children like some kind of young grandfather. And here she is, saying that her death would be easy for him to deal with.

"Ichigo." Miyako tried to calm her husband down.

Ichigo relaxed as he sat back into the couch, calming himself down. He almost lost Ai, his best performer and the girl he saw as a daughter. He didn't know if he'd be able to recover from that if she died.

"I'm sorry Ai." He apologized.

"It's ok." Ai said sadly.

"But please, I don't trust Eren." He said. "If he decided to hurt you, and I have no doubt he's capable of doing it, I could never live with myself. I know he saved you, but he shows not just the ability to kill, but that he clearly has experience."

"I understand President." Ai said. "But I can't just do that. He saved me and my children. We would be-" Ai stopped herself, unable to think of her two little babies in any other way than happy and healthy. "I need to make sure he's ok, and that he'll be safe."

"He saved mama President." Ruby said, her voice weak and scared. "How can he be a bad guy if he saved mama?"

"If it wasn't for him, we would be dead." Aqua said.

Aqua fully agreed with President Saitou. Eren was dangerous and showed that he probably had killed before. If Eren wanted to take advantage of Ai or hurt her in anyway, he could do so with ease. If it wasn't for the fact that Ai's potential killer was still out there, Aqua would use this moment to try and make Ai agree with President Saitou.

"Eren saved us, and we owe him to keep an open mind." Aqua said, already starting his match maker plan. He really hated that he was taking Eren's side in this.

"Ichigo, Eren did save them." Miyako said as she placed a hand on her husband's shoulder. "I don't trust him either, but we can't just treat Ai like a little girl either. You're not her father and can't dictate who she can and cannot see."

Can he not? Ichigo basically was her father after all these years.

"Fine." He relented, realizing that everyone was against him.

"Miyako-San is right." Aqua said. "Ai is a grown woman and doesn't need permission."

"I could just fire her." Ichigo said in a defeated tone.

"And lose B-Komachi?" Miyako asked.

"Don't worry Miyako-San, even if he fires me, I'll still show up for rehearsal." Ai's idol act was now showing itself as she smiled at her joke.

"Then I won't pay you." Ichigo continued the joke, though a bit reluctantly.

"I'll just ask Miyako-San for some money." Ai countered.

Ichigo smiled a bit at her change in attitude. If nothing else, he was glad she was safe and happy.

"Rehearsal was supposed to be today, but we'll cancel it." Ichigo said.

"What?" Ai asked. "But the others-"

"Will understand. If not, they'll have to talk to me." He said. "Just get some rest Ai, can you at least do that for me?" He pleaded.

"I'll try President." Ai said, though her voice was low. "I just don't want to hold the other girls back again."

"You won't." Ichigo said. "They'll understand after what happened." He said.

Ai took a moment to hold her children close to her body, feeling their warmth and breathing to remind herself that they're ok. She was so terrified of losing them last night that she couldn't get it out of her mind.

Although Eren showed how dangerous he was, Ai couldn't imagine him hurting her or her kids. It just didn't seem like something he would do. He protected them and defended them. He deserves nothing less than at least an open mind and not coming to conclusions based on something he did that was noble.

"Miyako-San is going to cook today." Ai said to her children.

"That's awesome!" Ruby said, getting her mind off of the previous events. "I love her cooking so much."

"Hey, what does that mean?" Ai asked, a jokingly offended tone clear in her voice. "What about mama's cooking?" She asked.

"It's ok." Ruby giggled, intentionally teasing her mama.

Night Prior

The restaurant that Eren reached was a simple location on a street he was unable to name. With how late it was, the restaurant was in the stages of closing for the night, so there were no customers. Eren didn't plan for that, but it ended up working to his advantage.

Eren walked into the restaurant that looked to have multiple booths with round plates in the center of the table, which appeared to be some kind of hearth or hot plate for cooking. There was a general red and brown color theme around the main room with oriental styled decorations. It looked similar to some of the decorations he remembered seeing in the Hizuru embassy.

There was a girl dressed in a black button up shirt with black pants behind the counter. She was busy counting the money they made for the day when Eren walked in.

The girl noticed Eren and made an X with her arms, probably implying that they were closed.

"Sarry, cosed." She said, her accent so broken it was hard to understand her.

"I need to see your boss." Eren tried anyway.

"Boss?" The girl asked.

"The person who owns this place." Eren clarified.

The girl didn't fully understand but went into the back to get the owner of the restaurant. She looked at Eren suspiciously, which wasn't surprising since he had his hood up from his hoodie and his hair obscured his face.

Eren waited for a few minutes while the owner of the restaurant came out. He was an older man, maybe in his 40s with a large gut and glasses on his face. He wore a simple black suit with what Eren assumed was a nametag.

"I'm sorry, but we're closed." The man said.

"I'm told to give you a message." Eren said calmly, though it was somewhat forced since he was struggling to keep his emotions in check.

"A message?" The man asked, having a bit of fear go through him.

"You borrowed money and didn't pay it back." Eren said to the man.

"Look, I am just struggling with the payments." He said. "The business isn't doing as well as I thought it was, and my wife just got pregnant with our third child." He pleaded.

The man was clearly concerned and confused. Were the Yakuza employing foreigners now? Although the girl didn't understand, she could understand that her boss was scared of the suspicious man.

"I don't care." Eren hardened his heart at the man's plight. "I don't care if it's paid or not, I'm here to deliver a message." Eren stepped closer.

The man stepped back in fear, terrified of what Eren would do to him. The girl also stepped back, scared of what would happen to her boss. She understood that this man was a threat.

The girl reached into her pocket to pull out a phone, likely to call the authorities. Eren pulled out his custom Marlian pistol and aimed it at the girl. The girl stopped in her tracks as she stared directly at the pistol. Eren had no intention of hurting the girl, but he knew he needed to prevent her from using her movable phone.

"Wait!" The man said, holding up his hands and stepping between Ere and the girl. "She's my daughter, please don't." He pleaded.

"I'm not in the mood for games." Eren said. "They want you to learn a lesson."

The man knew what this meant. They already threatened him, and now it was time to pay for his consequences. He knew Eren was going to hurt him bad.

"Please, just let my daughter leave." The man begged. "I don't want her to see it."

Eren felt terrible about the situation. Clearly this was a desperate man who needed money to keep his business working and keep his family fed. He was just an innocent man who's only mistake was borrowing money that he couldn't pay back.

Eren felt completely unlike himself. As desperate as he was for money, why was he doing the dirty work of some scumbag criminal? Why was he hurting an innocent man when he did nothing wrong?

Eren knew he was a devil. Even the worse human alive didn't have nearly as many dead people on their soul as Eren did. Eren killed so many innocent people in the worse ways possible. First his attack on Marley, which he used civilians as tools and killed them when he attacked. Then when he led the coup against Paradis, which got some innocent soldiers in the crossfire. Finally, the rumbling, his own form of global genocide.

Every time he did, he kept moving forward. Fighting to earn his freedom and protect his island. He told himself that no matter what, he would fight and move forward.

Even when he got here, to this alien world, Eren kept moving forward. He kept fighting and hurting people because he had no other choice. He had to survive. He had to fight. Even if that means hurting a few innocent people, he would continue to fight for his freedom and his life.

But for a moment, his thoughts went back to earlier, when he lost himself against the man who attacked Ai. He felt no pity for a man who tried to murder a woman and her children, but all he could think about was her face when she looked at him.

That look, Ai on her knees, clutching her son in her arms and staring up at him in fear. Tears threatening to spill and her eyes wide in shock at what Eren did. Even if it was to save her, Eren couldn't help but think of her face in that way.

He knew he was a devil, the Devil of Paradis. But even then, to have someone like her terrified of him was a blow to his soul. How much of a devil he looked to her, a woman who was as innocent as they came.

Sure, Ai had a rough life. But abuse wasn't that big of a deal to Eren. She didn't see the harsh realities of this world. Didn't watch monsters devour her loved ones or wake up every day with another bunkmate gone because a mission went poorly. She didn't see the explosions and sheer lack of empathy as Eldians were ordered to charge to their death.

To see her kind and innocent face contorted to a face of fear and horror made Eren feel bad and guilty.

"Stay where you are." Eren said as he walked up to the man.

"W-wait." The man pleaded.

Eren grabbed the man's left hand and bent his pinky finger backwards, causing the man to scream out in pain. The finger was at an unnatural angle, but Eren felt the bone in the finger snap. It wouldn't take long for the injury to heal. He assumed that it was an injury that could be easily fixed without a doctor as long as it was splinted correctly.

The man held his hand, struggling not to scream out from the pain. His daughter covered her mouth to prevent any sound from coming out, tears beginning to show in her eyes. It was simple, but Eren felt like it got the message across.

"They only said break a bone, so I did." Eren said. "Pay them next time or they'll send someone worse than me." Eren turned away from them.

The father and daughter talked with each other, but Eren didn't understand them. He didn't much care what they said but he decided to just leave them.

At the door to the restaurant, standing just outside from the partially opened entryway, was Sergei, who watched Eren from the outside. Eren grew upset that Sergei was here, implying that the criminal was following him. Unlike the stalker, Eren was unable to notice Sergei following him, meaning the older man was much more subtle.

"A broken finger?" Sergei asked as Eren left the restaurant. "I think Yakuza boss intended you to do more than that."

"Like I care what he said." Eren told Sergei. "He asked for a broken bone, the man's finger is broken. End of job."

"There is something to say about willfully ignoring the spirit of an order." Sergei said.

"Did he tell you to follow me?" Eren asked.

"I don't work for Yakuza." Sergei said. "So no, I have no orders to follow you."

"Then why are you here?" Eren asked.

"I'm curious how you would do on job. So, I followed you for a bit. Even saw nasty thing that happened in apartment. Wondered why there was a man limping away with knife in chest." Sergei said. "You kind of failed job though, he won't be happy."

"Like I said, I don't care." Eren repeated.

Sergei sighed due to Eren's rash attitude. Sergei knew Eren was headstrong, but the kid was going to get himself or someone he cares about killed.

"Let me take you home." Sergei pointed over to his car.

"Fine." Eren said.

It was a short ride to his home, maybe ten minutes. Eren walked the entire way there at a faster pace, so it took him an hour to reach the resturant. It wasn't a big deal for him, Eren was used to long marches while he was in the scouts and the Marlian Military.

"You know, I can tell you're not doing well in head." Sergie began.

"Is that right." Eren said, choosing to keep his focus out of the window.

"You killed stalker and hurt businessman. I'm wondering what is going on in head." Sergei tried again, Eren remained silent.

Sergei sighed again, noticing how fragile Eren was right now. The kid was clearly suffering and didn't let anyone into his life to help him.

"You know, I wondered how you would do in criminal life." Sergei began. "You're skilled, but still new to it. You still have lines you don't want to cross, but still do anyway." Sergei said.

"I crossed a lot of lines a long time ago." Eren said.

"During war, da?" Sergei asked, taking Eren by surprise. "I don't know what war you fought or what flag you fought for, but I can tell you have regrets."

"You don't know anything." Eren said.

"I know that you probably killed innocent people before, da?" Sergei guessed.

"Just shut up." Eren said angrily.

"Da, you did." Sergei said. "There's a line we Soldiers cross when we kill innocent people. We tell ourselves we do it for our motherland or for the people we care for in our lives. We tell ourselves it's unavoidable or that we have to kill innocent people to survive. Eventually, you cross that line so many times that the line starts to blur."

Eren took a deep breath, getting upset as Sergei continued to talk.

"Then you get to the world and find that there is still a fight to be had. With no family or country to fight for, we tell ourselves that we're desperate. We fight to survive and now we can't find a reason to cross that line anymore, but we've done it so much that we barely can recognize it anymore."

"Is there a point to this?" Eren asked. "Should I feel bad and be a hypocrite. Tell myself that after everything I've done that now I should feel bad about what I do?" Eren turned to face Sergei. "Do you think that changes what I did before?"

"I know you feel bad kid." Sergei said. "I know that you don't want to hurt innocent people. You want to live away from that, but circumstances prevent that."

"I don't need this from you Sergei." Eren said angrily. "You got me into this."

"I gave you opportunity to get off street. There is always choice." Sergei said. "You worked for me because of choice. Desperate, yes, but I offered job. You knew job was crime. I am a criminal, so of course I can only offer criminal job."

"So why should I feel bad now?" Eren countered.

"Do or don't, it doesn't matter what you do." Sergei said. "Hurt innocent people to survive, or don't and make life harder for yourself. That's the choice you have. You cross that line now because you decided that your life and freedom are more important than the life of an innocent person's. That above all else, your happiness and standard of living is more important."

"That advice coming from a criminal?" Eren countered.

"You're right." Sergei laughed. "I am criminal, so I won't judge you decision. All I'm telling you, is that you have to decide whether you want to prioritize your life, or your morals. Very few people can do both."

There was a silence that followed after Sergei spoke. Eren didn't care to think about the older man's words. Sergei said he was in a war, maybe he killed innocent people. Does it match anywhere close to the mountains of corpses that Eren trampled? How can anyone understand in this world? He could go through the history of this world and not find anyone a fraction as evil as Eren was.

"If you continue working for Yakuza, be prepared to do more jobs hurting innocent people." Sergei said. "Eventually, boss won't let you go."

As they pulled up, Eren got out of the car and shut the door, leaving Sergei alone. Sergei drove off after a moment and Eren was left alone in the parking lot. He noticed that the car that Ai's boss drove was in front of her apartment, meaning that there were people there. He also noticed that there were no guards or authority, so that must mean they weren't alerted.

Eren considered just leaving, but he was completely unable to do so unless he wanted to sleep on the streets tonight. He doubted Ai would want to see him again, so he decided he shouldn't try to speak to her anymore. Not like she would care much for a devil like him. If anything, she'd be better off. All Eren did for four years was hurt the people he loved, so it would spare her the pain if she didn't see him again. Especially if he was now involved in criminal activities.

Eren opened his door and placed his pistol on the table. He felt tired and annoyed after tonight's job and Sergeis philosophy lesson.

"I really am a devil." Eren said sadly as he sat down. "Sergei is right." Eren finally said.

Eren prioritized his own safety and standard of living over others in this world. He went to an innocent man who did desperate things for money in order to hurt him in front of his daughter. Eren was probably no better than those diseased dogs that kidnapped Mikasa all those years ago.

Eren's moveable phone vibrated, and he answered the call.

"What?" Eren asked.

"I told you to break bone." The boss said, not sounding very happy.

"I did what you said." Eren countered.

"I don't appreciate soft man who willfully ignored the meaning in my orders." The boss said.

"And I don't give a damn about some man who sends me to extort a defenseless and desperate man." Eren said angrily. "I understand I'm desperate, but I won't let that be a way for you to control me."

"Have I tried to control you boy?" The boss asked.

"Don't play games with me." Eren said. "You are manipulating me. Trying to get me to do whatever you want. You hold that desperation over me non-stop and I have no doubt that eventually you'll try to leverage me." Eren countered.

"Is that what you believe?" He asked.

"I'm not stupid." Eren said angrily. "And I'm tired of everyone in this damn place assuming I'm stupid. You want me to work for you, then I will. But if you send me after some desperate fool again then I won't hesitate to tell you to go to hell. Nor will I allow you to leverage me like some dog."

There was silence for a moment, but Eren made sure that the message was well understood. To hell with this man who used him for such a petty job.

"I'll allow that for now boy." The boss said. "Though watch what you say, you're becoming a lot less interesting to me now."

"I don't care." Eren said, though he doubted the boss heard since the boss hung up.

Eren tossed the phone on the table, feeling upset about the whole situation. Eren was no one's slave or pawn, and he refused to be one. He didn't care who he upset or if the boss would send people after him. Either he'll fight the Yakuza off or die. It was as simple as that.

Maybe it was hypocritical of him to draw a line on innocent lives now after everything he did in his world, but if Eren was a devil anyway, they why not be a hypocrite as well? A devil is a hypocrite anyway, so why not?

He would do this his way and no one else's. The Yakuza were not the scouts or the MPs. They were not people that held power over him and if they decided to take their resources from him, then Eren would find another way to fight.

Eren looked at his clock and saw that it was nearly midnight. Eren felt exhausted from this entire day. First the day with Ai, then the attack, and now this damned job. His emotions today went all over the place multiple times that he felt like he was struggling to keep himself in check. He felt tired, sick, and had a massive headache.

Eren took his boots and shirt off and laid back on the bed, willing himself to sleep. With all the emotions from today, it was easy for him to fall asleep.

This was another fun one to write lol.

So, a few things I want to address, a lot of people mention about Eren finding a better job, such as Ai's bodyguard or something. Not only do I think that it'll be less interesting, but I also don't think it can happen in reality.

I've done security work before. Any job involving security usually involves a criminal background check and of course health insurance. Ichigo would have to not only provide Eren health insurance, but he'd have to declare Eren to the government since his pay would be taxable. Not only that, as a foreigner, the Japanese government would have to ensure that Eren is continuing to pay taxes to his country of origin, since you have to pay dual taxes if you work in a foreign country. Obviously, that won't happen lol.

I also highly doubt that Ichigo would pay Eren under the table either, since not only could that get Ichigo arrested but there's no way he wouldn't at least run a background check with his idols safety on the line, even if he liked Eren (Which he doesn't lol).

That's really the crux of the problem. Every job requires you to submit some kind of identification number so you can receive income taxes. People who pay under the table typically offer either low paying jobs or illegal jobs.

That's honestly why he can't get a job. The digital age is just too robust for a protagonist from another world. He has to take illegal work because of taxes. Kind of funny that so many issues in an Isesaki type story happen due to taxes lol.

Anyway, I hope that answers a lot of questions on why I did what I did. Not only that, but I also personally find this more interesting than if he was just Ai's bodyguard. While I have no issues with stories like that, it is a bit of a trope by now. A good trope, but a trope all the same. Plus, I feel like it takes the agency out of the relationship. As her bodyguard, it forces them to be together instead of having to work for it. Plus, as the story goes on, the criminal side of Eren will start causing problems for not only himself, but people close to him.

Anyway, hope this is a good aftermath chapter. Try to go easy on Ichigo, he's basically a concerned father lol. It also calls Eren out on being a hypocrite so now he basically decides where he stands on certain issues.