Nothing. I have been scouring the place for almost three hours straight and no one would fess up. Everyone was beyond scared, apparently. Been this way ever since the Shimada Clan fell because of Overwatch. Or… to be more precise, ever since these "Yōkai" fellows popped up.
Violence has been escalating more and more ever since then, poor people suffer and this… shadow war did not seem to be coming to an end anytime soon. And no one knew who the head of the snake was supposed to be…
I finished gulping down my hot can of coffee. Weirdly tasty for something found in a vending machine. I was kind of impressed for whatever reason. The joys of being sheltered, I suppose…
Throwing out the can, I headed back inside the flat where my apartment was located, nodding to the landlord while I went. Good man, bit too attached to money, but friendly all things considered. Getting in the elevator, I leaned against the wall, grumbling to myself. I have been in Kanezaka for close to four days now, and not a single proper lead on these Hashimoto bastards. Only low level grunts who barely even knew who they were working for.
Needless to say, I was getting frustrated. Of the place? The Hashimoto? The people's cowardice? Overwatch for being the catalyst of everything? All of the above? I had no idea. The only thing that I knew was that I was getting tired of wandering about aimlessly. And I was starting to run out of yen, which meant that if I didn't hurry, I'd have to find a job, which would eat even more of my time.
I arrived at my floor and the elevator opened up… to an absolute mess. Furniture was scattered everywhere, walls were scratched and completely ruined. And at the center of it all…
My eyes light up. Those suits… that pointless swagger… that air of disgusting superiority…
The Hashimoto Clan. And at the center of them, a dude… with a black oni mask. Man, some people think it's still feudal Japan around here. But…
He was different. Different meant that maybe he was of higher rank. I decided that maybe I should go have a chat with the guy.
Dude in a mask had something in his hands. An honestly cool looking pistol, pointed at a little crying girl. I knew her… Akari was her name, the granddaughter of Mr Yoshida, this building's handyman. Cute kid, always smiling even though she's deaf, brings some good energy around the block. People adore her, myself included.
At that moment, it became personal. I wasn't sure why at the time. But the thought of that child getting hurt was unacceptable to me. It wasn't "just another job" anymore.
They were at a standstill with another girl. Green hair with a headband, sporting fake fox ears, dark eyes and dressed in a very unique looking cross between a traditional kimono and more modern clothing, looking to be around her early twenties, like me. Fashionable enough, kinda flashy though. I don't do flashy. Not in the real world at least.
It only took me a second to break the status quo, when I reached out from behind and snagged the gun from the masked dude, using the handle of it to deliver a satisfying bonk on his forehead. That teaches you to involve kids in your bullshit, asshole. But…
I was not fast enough. When I took the gun from the dude, he instinctively shot… right at Mr Yoshida. The man fell, with a hole in his chest. The little girl screamed. I felt like I had failed…
Green haired girl moved when Akari was out of immediate danger, placing a piece of paper on Yoshida's chest, which glowed golden for a second. When it stopped, the man was healthy again, his wound completely gone. I couldn't believe my eyes. My focus was brought back when the inevitable brawl ensued, as I watched her and shielded the child with my body at the same time.
The girl was a hurricane. She was definitely mad, judging by her tone of voice while she kicked everyone's ass.
The… fight, if you could call it that, was over in less than a minute with most men in black knocked out with only two left standing. Or… sitting, more like. Black mask dude, who lost his mask, and another guy with shitty hair. Seriously, why do people even think that rocking a pompadour is a nice idea…?
The tension could be cut with a knife. The girl began speaking, while making weird hand motions.
"I have a message for your boss. Kanezaka… is under MY protection".
Then… the strangest of feelings overcame me. I felt… stronger. Faster. Angrier.
As weird portals of lights erupted in the hallway, Yoshida and Akari rose up, their eyes glowing a light azure. And faster than I could blink, the two had forced the Hashimoto to run to the elevator in terror. I even saw sweet little Akari hurl a hatchet at them, splitting in half one of the guy's pompadour.
I was stunned. The feeling of strength disappeared and my eyes found the girl, looking like a predator watching her prey run away, knowing damn well that there was nowhere they could hide from her gaze.
That was how I met Kiriko Kamori. And how the first emotion that I felt towards her… was an underlying terror, for what she could accomplish, mixed with an healthy dose of both respect and awe.
I took a deep breath and calmed down. That particular scuffle was over… but finally, I had a lead.
I dipped my hand inside my pocket and took out a wallet. Masked guy's wallet to be precise, which I had snagged when I wacked him with his pistol… that I still held, by the way. Hey, a weapon is a weapon, might as well keep it.
Digging in the wallet I took both the money, I was getting desperate, and the main prize. His documents. I needed a name just to get started. I could link my way up from there.
Dojima Kenzo. Not a member of the actual family, but a start was a start.
Throwing away the wallet, I almost walked right through the green haired girl. I stifled the brief feeling of panic. I had to tell myself multiple times that she wasn't going to kill me. She looked angry though.
"That was dangerous. And stupid. AND DANGEROUS! AND STUPID!"
I winced against my will.
The anger seemingly vanished from her eyes, replaced by a big grin. That was a mood swing and a half. Or she wasn't actually angry. You could never tell with her, she could be a surprisingly decent actress if she wished to be.
"But thank you. You really saved Akari's life. We owe you for your help".
"No need to thank me. I just… followed my instincts, I guess".
"Did you now? Well, those are some good instincts. My name is Kiriko, by the way. Kamori Kiriko!"
She extended her hand to me, for a handshake. I complied, not seeing the harm.
"Brian. No last name".
She tilted her head at me, but didn't ask questions, thank the gods.
She was distracted when Yoshida and Akari came back from their… trip to the elevator, and I turned around to get back to my apartment. Or I would have, if my foot hadn't squished something soft. A stuffed fox, very cute… but missing a little arm, which I located close by.
A weird sadness overcame me. There's something extremely depressing about abandoned or damaged plushies to me. I didn't even had to wonder who this little guy belonged to…
With a small sigh, I took the stuffed fox and brought it home with me. I had a lead, which meant that it was time to rest up and prepare… and see if my sewing skills were still intact. I was going to need a first aid kit…
KIRIKO'S POV
It wasn't easy, talking to both Mr Yoshida and Akari. They were both wary of me. Understandably so… but it still hurt a bit. Luckily I managed to make Akari smile, which in turn made Mr Yoshida smile and everything fell back into place, somehow. I was waving the two of them goodbye, when I noticed two things: the plushie that I had given the little girl was gone… and Brian was gone with it.
Seriously? I turned my back for one second and he had already disappeared into thin air.
I sighed, not really surprised. He looked like the type of guy to do something like that. Maybe he had the making of a ninja, it wouldn't have looked out of place.
Speaking of ninjas I winced when I remembered that I had left my very protective and worrywart mother back in the apartment to fight suited goons. She was going to tear me a new one…
She did just that, to my infinite regret. But I managed to get across to her, at long last.
That night I could barely sleep. Between the elation of finally finding a common ground with my mother and what happened in the hallway, my adrenaline was still pumping in my veins.
My circle of thoughts eventually brought me back to Brian.
At a first glance, he seemed like an ordinary guy. Short blonde hair, foreign features on his face, if the name wasn't enough of a hint, with a blue hoodie and normal looking jeans, probably no older than 20 or 21 at best. Nothing about him stood up as anomalous, the type of person that would easily disappear in a crowd.
Nothing… except for his eyes.
They were an icy blue, a nice color for sure, but it wasn't that the issue… what gave me pause was the experience behind them.
He had the eyes of someone who was used to seeing evil. Of someone who had witnessed times and times again the darker parts of a human's soul… and suffered for it.
And it was worth mentioning just how fluent he sounded in Japanese. His pronunciation was flawless, not a single stutter. At such a young age, it was actually extremely impressive.
No, he was far, FAR from normal. The fact that he apparently either lost his last name or refused to acknowledge it made it obvious. I was curious. More curious than I had ever been before. A proper enigma, right there close to my apartment. It was no wonder that it took me a couple of hours before I managed to fall asleep. I had a very hectic couple of days ahead of me, I could just tell.
The next morning, I woke up fairly early, which was news to me to be honest. I was not a morning person. Still aren't all things considered. But once properly awake it didn't take me too long to prepare myself for the day. First order of business was cornering Brian. I had seen him with that goon's documents, he had something in his mind. And if it was something that could damage the Hashimoto Clan, I wanted to be involved.
I headed to the door, only to stop at the sound of voices. I slightly opened the door and peeped through, catching the tail end of the conversation between Mr Yoshida and Brian, who was humbly waving off the older man's gratitude.
After that, he fell down on one knee and started talking to Akari while using sign language. This only confirmed what I had thought the night before. He was a gifted linguist.
I couldn't help myself from reading what he was signing. He started by asking her how she was, before leaning in an almost conspiratorial manner. It was while he was doing so that I noticed that a couple of his fingers were bandaged.
"I saw a friend of yours while I was passing by. You might want to go say hi, I think he really missed you".
With that he patted the girl's head, nodded to her grandfather and he was off.
It only took a couple of seconds for Akari's squeals of delight to pierce the silence. In her arms there was the fox plushie that I had bought for her the day before… and around its stubby left arm there were clear signs of sewing. That's why he had hurt his fingers.
I smiled warmly without even meaning to. He was a good guy, through and through. If there were any doubts of that, he had completely dashed them. I opened my door fully, intent on thanking him, but I barely managed to see the elevator's door close with him inside.
I had missed him by only a couple of seconds. But it didn't bother me much. I knew Kanezaka like the back of my hand, it wouldn't take me long to find him.
Or so I believed, foolishly. I searched for him far and wide, but he was gone once more, like he never even existed.
BRIAN'S POV
The elevator's doors dinged open and I walked out, phone in my hand.
Time to get to work, finally. I headed inside an alley as conspicuously as I could and inserted Dojima Kenzo's name inside the Nav. I doubted that the guy had a Palace, so I just inserted the general "Overmap" option. I was rewarded by the app accepting the instructions.
Target Located, Beginning Navigation
I leaned against the wall of the alley, closing my eyes while the world changed around me. Or to be more precise… while I switched worlds.
It only took around 10 seconds for the process to end, all confirmed when the sky above me had turned from light blue to crimson red. Hello once again, my dear friend Metaverse.
Exiting back on the main street, I checked my clothing. Still normal, meaning that my target was still far away. I whipped out my phone once again for more information, noting that he was at walking distance. I was going to take a stroll then and warm myself up. I doubted that it was needed for what basically amounted to a grunt, but if I suspected right, this person could give me the name of someone higher on the hierarchy. From then, I just had to keep following the chain of command and I eventually would get to the boss of the Hashimoto Clan.
A better plan than what I had just the day before, at least. I only took a couple of steps, when someone's shadow passed right through me. Someone I knew.
Kiriko was walking down the road, head swinging right and left, looking for something. Or someone. Maybe she was hunting for more goons? She had implied that she was going to take a more direct approach after all.
I shook my head. Never mind that, she won't have to bother after I'm done, I thought.
And I was only half right in that specific situation.
So, I walked leisurely, taking my time to reach my target. I was not expecting a tough fight, at all. A bit confident, maybe, but it wasn't randomly put confidence. This Dojima dude was just a small fry in the grand scheme of things.
My clothes changed when I got close to the bastard. Won't take too long…
I'm sorry, did I say that it wouldn't have taken too long? My apologies, I meant that I spent the ENTIRE DAY chasing around him and the next two guys that he mentioned after I caught him.
I beat all three of them fairly easily, but they made up their lack of prowess in fighting with a very annoying proficiency in running away. I was NOT built for speed, regardless of how skinny I was… or am, I should say. I'm not slow by any means, but damn those guys could pump their legs.
I was exhausted when I finally made it back to the apartment block. And hungry. All in all, in a fairly foul mood. My hatred for the Yakuza knew no bounds it would seem…
Reaching my floor, I was wary coming out of the elevator, in case of more problems. And I was correct in being careful, for Dojima FUCKING Kenzo in the flesh was once more in the hallway.
Akari was hiding behind Mr Yoshida, while the guest of honor was standing still in the middle, waiting for something, sparing me but a glance. The elevator behind me dinged open once more and Kiriko strolled through, looking just as frustrated as I did. The emotions on her face switched rapidly, starting with relief in seeing me, onward to confusion at the situation and rapidly bounding to anger.
She marched right up to the goon, making sure to put herself in-between him and the two innocents. He looked unfazed with his mask, squared himself up with a bravery I did not expect from someone who screamed like a little girl barely 24 hours prior… and dropped down on his hands and knees all at once, violently banging his head against the floor.
"I AM SO SORRY! WHAT I DID WAS INEXCUSABLE! EXTORTING THE INNOCENTS, ALMOST KILLING THIS POOR MAN, TAKING A CHILD HOSTAGE… I AM BEYOND DISGUSTED WITH MYSELF!"
He started crawling towards the three, who wisely backed up. I smirked lightly. The Metaverse did its thing once again. I slipped my hands in my pockets and left Kiriko to deal with her little problem, who was loudly proclaiming how much he sucked and how she should call the police, so that they could bring him in.
He better be sorry, he made me sweat like a pig just by chasing him around all Kanezaka. I felt absolutely zero sympathy for him, good riddance.
I entered my apartment, with the intention of taking a shower, make myself some food and then sleep the rest of the day away, in that order.
It was frustrating… but progress was progress, I was happy with that.
KIRIKO'S POV
I wanted to bang my head against a wall. First I stayed out for hours to look for one guy who had apparently been swallowed by the gods, since he was nowhere to be found. Then when I finally found him, the masked thug from yesterday decided to have a sudden change of heart and begged to be taken away by the police, which added to my confusion. And on top of that, when the guy was finally gone, Brian had disappeared. AGAIN!
He had been who knows where, doing who knows what and for who knows how long.
I knew that I was being irrational about all of this. I mean, I was being a borderline stalker at that point. OK, he was different, big deal, that didn't excuse my behavior back then, I can willingly admit to that.
But I couldn't help but want to seek him. To talk to him and discover his secrets, whatever they could be. I was justifying it with myself by saying it's because he was obviously going after the Hashimoto, as such I had to be there in some way or form, even if only to watch his back.
And that small interaction in the hallway that day only added to that. He was smirking when masked thug was on his hands and knees. He knew what was happening. Maybe even expected it in a way. He had somehow managed to make a Yakuza member apologize for his actions.
If my curiosity was already a burning fire, after that day it became a raging inferno. I vowed to eventually have him tell me what the hell his deal was, what he was using to change people's hearts like that…
And just how to obtain this power for myself.
I got my wish very early after.
And my life took a very steep turn, arguably for the worst in some occasions. But to this day I will say…
Going after Brian and befriending him has been one of the best decisions of my life.
Hello? Is this thing on? It is? Noice.
Welcome ladies and gents to the first chapter of Underneath the Fires of War (or UTFW for short), the idea that I got because I am literally obsessed with Persona 5 at the moment and I wanted to write something about it, but the usual "main story but with an OC" seemed too boring for me. And so I went with a slight crossover, looked around and decided to settle on Overwatch, for the cast mostly.
And just in case someone is curious, Brian is NOT an OC. He's the kid from the museum, the one that punched Widowmaker in the face with Doomfist's gauntlet.
He's all grown up and went through all kinds of shit to get where he is, poor guy. Timeline might be a little off, but let's just pretend that he was the proper age back then too, kay?
I hope that I can manage to construct something decent here, because, like always, I am flying by the seams of my overgrown clown pants. I even have the red nose.
That's all folks! Ta-ta for now