Sovereign: Hello everyone. I deeply apologise that it has been so long since I last wrote anything. If you are still following me even after my long period of inactivity, thank you so much for your support. Let's continue. :)

Chapter 1: Shu Ouma

Inside a small supermarket located in the island's capital city of Denpasar, a young Japanese man who is currently dressed in a green cap and yellow uniform is neatly placing cans of food onto the shelves at one of the aisles. A taller man with a clipboard in his hand walks over to him on his right and calls out his name.

"Shu Ouma."

The young man pauses his work and turns his attention to him. "Yes, Mr. Sulaeman." He responded.

"There will be a delivery from our wholesale distributor at 2:30 pm. I want you and Maman to attend to them when they arrive." Mr. Sulaeman said.

"Yes sir." Shu nodded before rubbing the back of his neck. "W-while you're here, uh, I heard there is an opening at the cash checkouts right now. And…I was wondering if I can take it. B-because…you know…"

"I know." Mr. Sulaeman nods his head before letting out a sigh. "I understand, Shu. But I'm sorry." He briefly points at the square-shaped bandage plastered on Shu's left cheek. "Unless the manager believes you can finally communicate with others without your fists, you're not allowed to work at the front."

Shu gently places his hand on his bandage and nods his head again. "Yeah…I get it." He said disappointingly.

"I don't know what is going through your mind, Shu. But you're going to be 18 soon. You need to lighten up and socialize with others. Even I don't wish to see you wasting the rest of your life getting into fights and potentially putting yourself behind bars." Mr. Sulaeman said solemnly.

"I understand." Shu replied dully. As Mr. Sulaeman turns around and leaves, Shu resumes his work as well by continuing to place and arrange the canned foods on the shelves.

When his working shift ended at 6 o'clock in the evening, Shu heads to his locker at the back of the supermarket where he removes his cap and uniform and changes back into his casual clothes which consists of a dark grey long-sleeved jacket, a light grey shirt underneath it and black pants. He spent half a minute staring at his own reflection on the mirror and gently stroking the blonde streak on his messy brown hair before closing his locker. When he heard laughter, he turns to his left and sees three of his co-workers walking together as they make their way out through the back of the supermarket.

"Hey Shu, see you tomorrow." One of them said as they walk past him.

"Yeah…see ya." Shu replied softly as he watches them wrapping their arms cordially around each other's shoulders while walking down the ramp at the left side of the large open doorway. Shu sighs inwardly before adjusting his jacket and making his departure as well.

He enters a small public carpark right beside the supermarket and walks over to where he left his bicycle. After pushing it out of the carpark, Shu gets on the bicycle seat and begins cycling his way home just as the streetlights and store signboards start to illuminate throughout the city of Denpasar. As the sun now sets over the island of Bali, the streets are now packed with both locals and tourists as they explore the small city to look for items and souvenirs to buy, a place to dine, and simply enjoying the sights and nightlife in this tropical island.

Besides stopping by a street food vendor along the sidewalk to buy a martabak, the journey back home was uneventful for Shu as the young man kept cycling southward and making his way to the other side of the city. Trees and tall grass growing on both sides of the road become a common sight as Shu cycles further away from the city centre. He eventually makes a turn to one of the smaller roads, and again onto another road that leads to a small village located two and a half miles away from the city centre. Here, the houses are built right next to each other and no taller than two storeys. Their walls are made of stone and concrete, and every driveway and front yard is filled with trees and tall grass to give the illusion that mother nature has overrun these parts of the city.

After cycling for nearly twenty minutes, Shu finally brings his bicycle to a halt and finds himself outside the metal gates and stoned walls that form the boundaries of his home. He looks through the gates and notices the black sedan car parked on the large open area at the right side of his home, indicating that his mother had return from work. Shu sighs inwardly before he gets off the seat and pushes his bicycle over to the left side of the gates. He gets out a key from his pocket to unlock the gate, and he lifts his bicycle up as he carefully steps through and over the frame.

After entering the premises and locking the gate, Shu turns to his right and pushes his bicycle over to the two-storey tall grey house. He places his bicycle against the wall beside the front door and steps inside the building.

Upon entering, he immediately sees a woman washing her plate and cutlery in the kitchen sink at the right front side of the house. She has brown wavy back-length hair and wears a sleeveless magenta top and blue jeans. Shu also sees a single plate of nasi goreng placed on the wooden dining table behind her, knowing that the woman had already finished her dinner before he arrived home. When the woman turns off the sink, Shu finally decides to get her attention by knocking against the main door. The woman turns around and they both stare awkwardly at each other.

"Hello Haruka." Shu greeted.

"Hello Shu." Haruka replied flatly before gesturing to the food on the table. "I've cooked fried rice for you. I just finished dinner so go ahead and eat it."

After placing the clean plate and cutlery at the side of the sink, Haruka walks around the dining table and makes her way over to the couch at the other side of the house. Shu frowns as he watches her.

"That's it? That's all you got to say to me?" Shu asked in annoyance.

"What else is there for me to say?" Haruka replied without making an eye contact. Shu grew angrier as Haruka sits down on the couch and picks up the remote from the coffee table between her and the television.

"I know there is something in your mind. Speak up." Shu demanded.

"There isn't." Haruka said flatly as she turns on the television and watches the drama show that is now displayed on screen.

"It's been seven days now. Please speak to me." Shu said flatly. As Haruka remained silent, that is when Shu reaches his limit. He hastily walks over to the back of the television and unplugs the extension cord from its socket. As the television screen turns black, Haruka gave a frustrated sigh as Shu turns back to her. Now feeling livid, Shu raised his voice at her. "NOW!"

Haruka stares blankly at the ceiling for a few moments before frowning back at Shu.

"What else am I supposed to say? Hm?" Haruka said dishearteningly. "I've tried everything I can to help you, please you, and keep a shelter above our heads, and this is how you repay me? Getting expelled? Fighting in public? Making me waste my time and energy persuading the police not to press charges on you? You're going to be 18 soon. I cannot defend you for the rest of my life."

"You think I constantly want to find trouble? I'm trying my best." Shu said.

"Trying your best to do what?"

"To bring my life back to normalcy." Shu paused to rub his forehead. "But I cannot do this without your help."

"What else can I do to help you?!" Haruka yelled. "I helped you move to another country, got you into a new school, and you still end up like this! Tell me, Shu! If you have any suggestions, tell me what else can I do for you!"

Shu shakes his head in frustration. What was the point of trying to have a normal conversation with her in the first place? He hastily walks away from her and goes over to the staircase.

"Where are you going?!" Haruka cried as she turns around and watches her son leave. "Shu!"

Shu stopped at the first step of the staircase and looked back at his mother with a cold glare.

"None of this would have ever happen if you hadn't met my father." He said icily.

Haruka stayed silent as she watches him turn his head away from her and continue walking up the stairs. After hearing the door to his room slam shut, Haruka turns back to the direction of the television and lowers her head. She stares down at the wooden floor until her vision is blurred by fresh tears. With a harsh sob, Haruka buries her face in her hands and breaks down in despair.

Shu removes his jacket and tosses it onto his bed placed horizontally at the left side of his room. He walks over to the right side of his room and stands in front of the large oval-shaped mirror hanging on the wall beside his work desk. While gazing at his reflection, he slowly removes the bandage from his left cheek to see that the bruise he had from his last fight had disappeared. He continued staring at himself, managing to curve his lips up into a wan smile with whatever control he still has over his body. But it did not take long for the painful memories of his last brawl and the most recent argument he had with his mother to come racing back into his mind, and the young man gave a loud, convulsive gasp from his throat as his eyes began to water furiously.

Unable to hold back his tears any longer, Shu whirls about and sits down on the left side of his bed. He hangs his head and buries his face in his hands, muffling his sobs to prevent Haruka from overhearing him falling into a state of unbridled misery.

Ever since he and Haruka learnt about the death of his father seven years ago, their lives have never been the same again. It was one thing for Shu to learn that the man who raised him since birth has been murdered, but it was a whole other thing for him and Haruka to discover not only he was killed by his step-uncle, but they were working for the now disgraced Matou Industries. The former company was initially thought to be permanently shut down by the Japanese government after their child abductions and illegal manufacturing of a serum that can turn humans into living weapons were exposed in Australia, but it was later discovered that they have been continuing their activities in other parts of the world, and his father Kurosu was one of the many scientists who have been hired by them and secretly working in their main hideout in Germany. Eventually, their leader Zouken Matou was reported dead, and the remnants of his company went down with him for good. And as the news of their collapse spread across the world, Shu's life changed forever.

After the now deceased Kurosu Ouma was exposed as a former employee of an unethical company that would have brought chaos and destruction to the world, everyone in Japan turned against him and his mother. Haruka was quickly dismissed from her job, and everyone in school immediately shunned Shu. It did not take long for their utter contempt towards him to cause Shu to fall into a heavy state of depression and isolation. As he grew more despondent over the next seven months, Shu ended up begging his mother that he could not handle the constant bullying and antipathy from his schoolmates anymore and wish to move to another place. Haruka felt the same way too as she struggled to find another job anywhere in Japan. Believing that it was not worth continuing to live their lives in Japan anymore, Haruka made the decision to move her and Shu to another country. It took them another three months to complete their procedure in renouncing their Japanese citizenships and finding the perfect place where they can restart their lives, but they eventually chose to move to the Indonesian island of Bali because of its tranquillity and location far away from more populated parts of the world.

After moving into their new home, Shu and Haruka thought this will be the perfect chance for them to start afresh and put their painful past behind. But unfortunately, it is already too late as the trauma and emotional stress Shu endured back in Japan remained inside him and continued to wither his mental state. Even in his new school, he would still get himself into fits of uncontrollable rage, alienating everyone around him who would have thought of becoming his friend. Things got even worse when he entered middle school, where he would frequently get into fights with anyone whom he thought were trying to harass him for the next two years. Eventually, nearly halfway through his third year of secondary education, the school board came to the decision to expel him, thus abruptly ending the adolescent years of his life. It was a heavy blow to him and his mother, as it signified to them that no matter where they go, they will never be able to move on from the past. Now that no school would ever accept Shu as their student, he was forced to enter the workforce at the young age of 15, and his relationship with Haruka also declined. And as his mental health deteriorates, Shu would have thoughts every now and then that if Haruka and her brother had not entered his life, he would never be trapped in this awful situation where everyone around him hated him for being the son of Kurosu Ouma, and the emotional pain and trauma caused by them would never leave him no matter where he goes.

After using his arm to wipe away his tears, Shu lies himself on his bed and curls himself into a trembling ball while his body was wracked with harsh, uncontrollable sobs. Every day, he struggled to find some sort of reason to continue living his life that is now only filled with pain and sorrow. And maybe after seven years, perhaps it is finally time for him to accept defeat. Maybe now, it is time for him to decide when does he want to end his miserable life for good.

A few hours later, Haruka stood outside Shu's bedroom and made a few gentle knocks on the door.

"Shu? Are you alright?" Haruka asked in concern. When she did not receive an answer for the next ten seconds, Haruka quietly turns the knob and slowly opens the door. As she enters his room, she sees Shu sleeping soundly on his bed with his body now underneath the sheets. After sighing inwardly, Haruka walks over to his bedside and lowers her head to see the dried tearstains on his cheeks. She sadly strokes his hair and gently places her hand on his left shoulder before she quietly turns around and leaves his room.

Haruka closes the door behind her, walks back down to the living area and stands in front of the picture frames hanging on the wall beside the couch. Five of them are photos of Shu and Haruka standing together in front of a beach or a famous landmark of Bali, but the top left frame is the most special to them as it is the last photo that they had taken of them and Kurosu standing together as a complete family before his departure to Germany.

Like her son, Haruka was equally heartbroken upon learning the tragic murder of her husband caused by the hands of her now estranged brother. She has never seen or heard Shuichiro since the collapse of Matou Industries as there were no news of him ever being found and apprehended by the authorities. Regardless of whatever happen to him, Haruka wishes to never see Shuichiro again and keep herself and Shu away from him as far as possible.

Despite learning that her husband has been working for the disgraced Matou Industries and knowing that their ties with each other are what led to the series of events that brought her and Shu to the downward spiral that they are still trapped in, Haruka never gave up her love for Kurosu. The news may have framed him as a monster who conducted experiments on kidnapped children, but deep down, she knows that Kurosu is never the type of human being. Her late husband was a kind and caring man who is devoted to his family, work, and desire to help others, and his actions inspire her to do the same thing for Shu. However, she cannot help but feel indirectly responsible for his death as well. If she had known Shuichiro's true intentions all along, she would have never let him hire Kurosu and send him away to Germany. Maybe then, Shu would never resent her more now. Haruka tried her best as a mother to reassure Shu that things will still be alright after Kurosu's death. But after seven years, she has come to the realization that without her husband's guidance, she is completely hopeless in ever helping Shu and herself get back on track.

Haruka takes a gulp and gently places her fingers on her husband in the photo before she said barely above a whisper, "If only you are still with us."

The following day was mostly uneventful for Shu. He quietly ate his breakfast with Haruka and never said a word to her before leaving the house on his bicycle to go on another day of work at the supermarket. He spent the next nine hours over there, performing whatever tasks Mr. Sulaeman have ordered him to do for the day. When it is 6 o'clock in the evening, Shu changes back into his usual dark grey jacket, light grey shirt, and black pants, gets his bicycle from the nearby carpark and makes his way home as always.

Or so he had hoped, as while he was leaving the carpark and getting onto the seat of his bicycle, he fails to notice the four men who have been hiding in a nearby alleyway at the other side of the road, observing every move that the young man makes. When they see Shu beginning to pedal his way through the streets, the four men quickly start up their motorcycles and chase after him. It did not take long for them to catch up to Shu, who quickly brought his bicycle to a screeching halt when he sees two of them stopping their motorcycles in front of him.

One of them is a man dressed in an orange knit cap and a dark grey scarf around his neck, whom Shu immediately recognizes as the one he fought with two weeks ago. The other man is a tall and muscular bald man with black tattoos inked on the left side of his head. As the bald man gets off his motorcycle and walks up to him, Shu briefly looks over his shoulder to see the other two men surrounding him from behind with their own bikes to prevent his escape. He suddenly felt the bald man grabbing his collar and yanking him off the seat of his bicycle. Shu yelps and widens his eyes as he finds himself staring face to face with the bald man.

"You sure got some balls, kid." The bald man said icily to him. "Why don't we have a little chat?"

After the bald man and his gang brought Shu into the same alleyway where they came out from, he proceeds to punch the young Japanese man hard across his left cheek, sending him tumbling to the ground and landing on his face. As Shu turns around and stays on the ground, he looks up and sees the bald man and the knit cap-wearing man walking up to him while the other two gang members stood outside the alleyway to prevent others from witnessing what is about to happen to him.

"My friend here told me that two weeks ago at the bar, you punched him in the face after you refused to pay his tab." The bald man said icily to him.

"It was him who punched me first after I firmly said 'no' to him." Shu explained, not caring about the blood trickling down from his left nostril. The bald man and the knit cap-wearing man turn to each other, the latter shrugging his shoulders to his boss in response.

"What can I say? Kids tend to be more drunk than adults these days." The knit cap-wearing man said before the two men burst out in laughter.

Shu snorted and said mockingly, "Don't blame me. He probably overspent his money on the hookers in the first place."

Without warning, the bald man grabs Shu by his collar again, pulls him back up on his feet and pushes him over to the wall beside them. Shu groans in pain as his back collided against the concrete wall, and he yelps again when the bald man slams his arm against his throat. Shu struggles to breathe for air as the bald man draws out a folding knife from his pocket.

"You really are an annoying piece of shit, you know that?" The bald man said with his eyes narrowed. "Now…there are two ways for you to repay us. Either get down on your knees, apologise to us with your head against the ground, and pay my friend whatever you owe him, or…" He paused as he flips out the blade of his knife. Shu breathed irregularly as the man gently places the blade against his already bruised left cheek. "Pay us up with your face."

"Man, you must be shitting in your pants right now, huh kid?" The knit cap-wearing man chuckled as he watches Shu's look of fear in amusement.

Shu closes his eyes and seals his lips for a few moments. Admittedly, he is afraid of his current predicament. And judging by how close the blade of the man's knife is to his face, he and his men may be dead serious in permanently disfiguring his appearance or even end his life right now.

However, as the young man recollects the painful memories of his life for the last seven years, why should he bother trying to fight back at this point? He has lost the only parent he ever had an attachment with. Everyone around him including Haruka despises him, and he will forever live the rest of his life as a useless, lowly worker at a small supermarket. As he concluded last night, it is time for him to accept defeat now. His life is nothing but a meaningless existence at this point, and no one will ever care whatever happens to him next.

Without warning, Shu gurgles up in his throat and spits out a huge amount of saliva at the bald man's right eye. Now extremely furious, the bald man tightens his hold against Shu's throat while gritting his teeth at him.

"Fine!" The bald man roared. As he pulls back his knife and prepares to stab his face, Shu shuts his eyes and seals his lips again, ready for his inevitable doom.

However, the moment was interrupted when a mysterious figure suddenly drops down from above and lands on the ground a few meters away from the three men. As the knife was only a few inches away from Shu's face, the figure swiftly goes over and punches the bald man hard across his right cheek, causing him to drop his weapon and sending him sprawling through the ground.

"What the?!" The knit cap-wearing man cried in bewilderment as Shu felt himself fall onto the floor. Shocked that he has been saved, Shu snaps his eyes open as he tries to comprehend what just happened. And before he could think any further, his eyes made contact with a teenage pink-haired girl who places herself in front of him.

Shu looked perplexed at his mysterious saviour, struggling to understand how a slim girl who is nearly half the size of his assailants managed to take down one of them with a single punch. As the other two thugs help pull their boss back up on his feet, the four men stare dumbly at the girl, who quietly gets into her fighting stance without a hint of emotion on her face.

"Do not hurt him." Inori said flatly. "He is my asset."

"Asset?" Shu murmured. 'What is she talking about?'

The knit cap-wearing man glares and grits his teeth at Inori. "Fucking bitch!" He yelled as he runs up to her.

"Look out!" Shu cried to Inori.

When the knit cap-wearing man throws his right fist at Inori, the girl swiftly turns to her left and leans her head and upper body back to dodge the attack. She retaliates by grabbing the man's right arm and brings her right fist down on it. With a sickening crack, the knit cap-wearing man screams in agony as he falls on his knees before the girl. Without showing any remorse, Inori thrusts her right elbow at the man's face, breaking his nose in the process and sending him falling to the ground.

"Why you!" The bald man yelled as he and one of the other two men run up to her. Inori casually turns to them as the bald man swings his left fist at her head. Inori dodges the attack by performing a backflip and kicking him underneath his lower jaw. As the bald man stumbles back, Inori lands back on her feet and looks up as the other man swings his left leg at her head. Inori holds up her right arm to block the attack and pushes his leg away, causing him to stumble back. She quickly gets up from the ground, runs up to him and delivers an uppercut to his lower jaw. She throws another hard punch to his gut, causing the man to lean his body forward, and Inori finishes him off by bringing both her fists down onto the back of his head like a sledgehammer, sending him falling to the floor on his face.

The remaining gang member, who had grabbed a wooden plank from the floor, yells furiously as he runs up to Inori and swings it down onto the top of her head. However, Inori swiftly turns to the man and grabs the plank firmly with her left hand, much to his shock and bewilderment. She snatches and pulls the plank off the man's grip before she now holds it with both hands and swings it hard across the left side of his head, sending him collapsing on top of the knit cap-wearing man. As the other man struggles to get up, Inori looks down at him and slams the plank down onto his head, causing him to groan as he falls back on the ground and slips into an unconscious state.

Finally, the bald man lets out a ferocious roar as he runs up to Inori again and thrusts his left leg and foot at her. Inori defends herself by holding up the wooden plank in front of her. But the man's kick breaks through the plank, and Inori swiftly tilts her head to the left to dodge his foot. As Inori tosses away the two halves of the plank, the bald man brings down his foot and throws his right fist at her. Inori dodges it by sliding to the right, and the bald man now swings his left fist at the right side of her head. Inori slides herself to the left while going under the man's arm, and she swiftly kicks the right side of his lower right leg. The man yells in agony as he felt her kick forming a hairline fracture onto the bone. When he falls on his knees, Inori quickly takes the opportunity to deliver several brutal punches across his face, creating large fresh bruises on his cheeks and forehead, causing huge amounts of blood to pour out from his mouth and nose, and having them splatter across the floor. Shu widens his eyes and drops his jaw in horror as he felt his saviour is going too far with the punishment she is delivering to his main assailant.

When Inori is done, the bald man moans in agonizing pain as he lowers his head in defeat.

"P-P-Please…no more…" The bald man begged as blood continue dripping from his mouth and nose. Inori remains silent as she now goes behind the bald man and wraps her arms tightly around his neck. The bald man gagged in pain as Inori pulls him back and begins the slow process of choking her enemy to death. The bald man tries to pull her arms off him, but the girl's grip remains firm. He soon finds himself rolling his eyes back, and his arms hang limply at his sides as his vision began to blur.

Finally, after a few seconds, Shu managed to get a hold of himself and shouted at Inori, "STOP!"

Inori turns her head to Shu who stares back at her in mortified terror.

"That is enough! Let him go!" Shu demanded. It took a few more seconds for Inori to finally respond to his request by removing her arms and stepping away from her enemy. The bald man gasps loudly as he throws himself forward, rubs his hands around his throat and struggles to catch a few breaths.

"Let's get the fuck out of here!" The knit cap-wearing man cried in horror as he runs up to the bald man and pulls him back up on his feet with his only unbroken arm. The other man also carries the unconscious man up from the ground and wraps his arm over his shoulders before all four of them quickly leave and get away from the pink-haired demon. Shu continues staring dumbly at Inori even after the four men have left the alleyway.

"W-who are you?" Shu asked. Inori quietly walks up to him, gets down on a knee in front of the young man and stares into his maroon eyes.

"Inori Yuzuriha." Inori introduced herself. "Is your name Shu Ouma?"

"What?" Shu uttered, both surprised and confused that the mysterious girl knows his name.

"Is it?" Inori asked flatly again. Shu dumbly nods his head a few moments later.

"Y-Yes…how do you know?" Shu asked. Inori stands up and extends her hand to him. Shu grabs it and the pink-haired girl pulls him up from the ground as she backs away.

"I was told to find you and your mother, Haruka Ouma." Inori replied as she and Shu now stand in front of each other.

"You know my mother too?" Shu widens his eyes. Inori gave him a solemn nod. Growing more curious, Shu frowned at her. "Who told you to find us?"

Inori unzips her pouch bag and takes out the seal bag containing Kurosu's smartphone. Shu gasps and widens his eyes again upon recognizing the model and colour of the smartphone.

"I-Is…is that?" Shu uttered as his body trembled.

Inori holds out the phone to him. "Your father…Kurosu Ouma…wants your mother to see this."

Sovereign: I would like to thank Darth Necron, Allfather-Ford, Generic Reviewer, LayLay lives, TGRickel, checkplease2177, and ghoulification for reviewing, favoriting and following. Thank you all very much, and it's great to be back. :)