No one knows what broke first... silence or fear.
Akaino stands still, his shoulder dripping with blood, his hand still bearing the mark of the staff he stopped with his fist. His eyes never leave Raven, while his men move nervously, their eyes darting between the leader and the young man, as if they cannot believe what they have seen.
The silence is heavy, and everyone is watching, waiting for... a move, a word.
Akaino doesn't speak, doesn't even blink. He just thinks, what's the next step? ....
Raven stands still, a wry smile on his face as he looks at the blood dripping from his nose.
"You know what?" He takes a step forward, wipes his nose with his thumb again, and then adds coldly, "I was going to quietly break some bones for you... But now you've made me change my mind."
His gaze was sharp, as if he wanted to send his challenge between him and Akaino into the air. There was something in his eyes beyond sarcasm, something that foreshadowed the storm that would engulf the place.
Raven's smile widened, but his eyes remained black as treachery. He took a step forward, wiped the blood from his nose, and said in a grim tone:
"But first... what is your name? Before I send your head home to your mother as a souvenir."
His red marker flared, its glow creeping like a flame over his shoulder. His men waited for the command.
But Akaino .....
He said in a calm voice, as if not addressing Raven, but judging him:
"Akaino... Tendo."
Then he continued, his eyes never wavering:
"The last name you will hear standing."
What happens next. Two steps, and whatever the outcome, it will be the end.
But what happened?
---
One of Raven's followers approached, slipping from the shadows as if carrying a dangerous secret. He came close enough to nuzzle his commander's shoulder, then whispered in his ear:
"He has arrived, my lord..."
Raven did not immediately respond, his eyes staring into space, his features changing. Then, slowly, he shook his head, as if realizing something bigger than the moment, and said in a quiet tone:
"Good..."
The mark on his shoulder lost its glow.
He turned, his steps slow, but with the weight of one who knows when to retreat and when to return. He says to his men:
"Come, we have more important things to do."
They moved after him, but before he went too far, he passed Akaino and whispered without looking at him:
"Our meeting is not over... Tramp."
Two of his men couldn't help but smirk, one of them muttering sarcastically: "This is the one who stopped Raven's staff? He doesn't seem to know who Raven is..."
Another gave him a contemptuous look.
But Akainu didn't move, didn't react, didn't blink.
His eyes were fixed on Raven's back as if they were carved there.
Then, as Raven walked away, he raised his hand without turning and said in a low voice:
"Do as I say."
The men nodded, not a word, just movement, as if they had received coded instructions.
Inwardly, Raven muttered, a slight smile spreading across his face:
"The real fun has begun... Let's see, Tendo Akaino, how long you can hold out before you break."
As for Akaino, he remained in silent agony in the center of the mine, ... but he was not alone.
The old man behind him, on the ground, watched silently.
Akaino slowly turned to the old man lying on the ground. Akainu extended his hand to the old man and said softly:
"Give me your hand."
The old man hesitated for a moment, then whispered, overcome with fear: "You... You are not one of them, are you?"
Akaino shook his head with a slight smile:
"I told you, no one will come near you. Give me your hand."
Slowly, the old man held out his trembling hand, but when he took it, he tried to lean down and kiss it, as he used to do with his masters.
Akaino gently pulled his hand back, laughing slightly:
"Don't do that, please. I am nobody's master."
The old man also laughed, a light laugh tinged with embarrassment, and said:
"Uh... An old habit, hard to break."
"I see." Smiling, Akaino replied, "Just go home... alive, for those who are waiting for you."
While the smile remained on his face, his gaze unconsciously dropped... He saw the wetness in the old man's clothes, a mixture of fear and humiliation.
His features did not change.
His smile remained the same, as if it were a boulder blocking what was inside.
"He laughs now... But his body speaks louder.
This wetness... Not just from fear, but from a long history that taught him that no one would protect him.
And because I wasn't there when they needed me, he believed I was like them."
"How easy it is to laugh, and how heavy that smile is when you know you are the cause and no one sees it."
"If only I hadn't opened that door... that damn door that got us into all this hell.
This man would be sitting with his grandchildren now, not trembling like a child before the hangman."
He looked at the old man again, then tugged at his shoulder and said:
"Go. Tonight you must not sleep on the floor again."
The voice of his thoughts continued, "Everything that happens... starts with me.
Everything could have been different if I had just..."
"Akainooo!!!"
The voice broke his thoughts. He raised his head to see the young man running toward him.
"Huh? Yuri?"
Yuri's fist slammed into his head.
"Uh...!" Akaino put his hand to his head and groaned in pain:
"Hey... It hurts, damn it! What's wrong with you?"
Yuuri shouted without smiling, his eyes blazing with rage:
"Are you out of your mind?"
Yuri growled as he came closer:
"Shall I put a bell around your neck?"
"What? What have you done now?" Akaino said in a dry tone, unwilling to apologize.
Yuri came closer, his breath like fire:
"No, you didn't do anything... I just came close to your grave for a few seconds!"
He raised his hand, pointing to where Raven stood.
"What did you think? Standing in front of a crazy killer, a man who breaks bones just for fun... And you stand there like you're greeting an old friend!"
Akaino exhaled and said with a heavy sigh:
"I knew what I was doing..."
Yuri, his voice lower this time:
"You experienced death, and this time... so close."
Akaino said, clasping his hands and looking at Yuri with a steady gaze:
"I am standing in front of you, what death are you talking about?"
Then he continued in a steady tone, as if every word was coming from deep within him:
"And you know... I couldn't help it."
Yuri took a step closer, his eyes unblinking, his tone calmer than before, but with the intensity of a man who has almost lost something irreplaceable:
"I've said this over and over again, Akaino..."
He put his hand to his face and blew bitterly, as if the words weighed on him, before adding:
"Every day I find you in more trouble than the last... It's like you're racing with insanity."
He continued, his voice filled with a note of sad sarcasm:
"Do you love death that much?"
Then he sighed and continued:
"Just tell me... Do you have a date with him that you haven't told me about?"
Akaino, clasping his hands behind his head and leaning back slightly, said with a smile:
"Relax, man... You make me feel like I'm talking to my mom, not my friend."
Yuri put his hand over his face again, as if trying to block out the world:
"Is it time for a joke now?"
Akaino didn't reply directly, but grinned, then let out a light, short, childlike laugh despite the blood on his shoulder.
"Maybe not... But you were going to cry, and I didn't want to see that."
Yuuri looked at him blankly, as if trying to resist a small smile.
Taking his hand away from his head, Akaino continued:
"I'm here, standing... Not dead, not crazy. Just... living my own way."
Akaino looked at Yuuri, anger evident in his eyes, but behind that... something deeper. Something that neither insults nor yelling could hide.
(Internal dialog - Akaino):
"Yuri... He's been my friend since childhood. I know that anger, I've seen it before... He's not yelling because I did wrong, he's yelling because he's afraid... Scared of losing myself. He's an idiot sometimes, he worries too much, he talks like he's the guardian of my life... But I know him. His heart is clean, and his soul is as tired as mine. In this hellish world, we have nothing... No family, no safety, no dream that can be grasped without burning between our fingers. All we have... is each other. And that's enough to make me resist everything."
His eyes narrow slightly, the tone of his smile changes, leaning toward tenderness despite the severity of the situation.
Then in an audible, but low voice:
"You're angry because you're afraid... And I understand that."
Yuri (sharply, pointing a finger at him):
"Fuck you, asshole... If I die because of your stupid jokes, I'll rise from the grave just to slap you."
(He blinks and then turns away coldly, as if he can't bear to look at him, but his heart burns with worry.)
Akaino(laughs lightly as he runs his hand behind his head, then grins:)
"Uh-huh... You always know how to make me feel like a kid who's annoying his mom."
Suddenly, he is interrupted by a gruff voice from behind:
(loudly):
"Howie, Akaino!"
Akaino turns quickly, his gaze narrowing as he sees a man approaching from the shadows.
It's Shuro... A well-known drug smuggler, with the rank of Alpha-Positive and the element Nickel.
The kuma mark on his left shoulder glows with just one line... The first condition has been triggered.
Shuro (with a wry look and a half-smile):
"I heard you were looking for trouble... I've come to sell you one."
Akaino (smiling lightly in a sarcastic tone): "Hey, Shuro... You're never late, as always."
Shuro (stops a few steps away, looking at them with a calm but charged gaze): "If I were late... I wouldn't be alive, and neither would you."
Yuri (with narrowed eyes and a cautious tone): "Answer us, what brings you here?"
Shuro (pulling a small scroll out of his coat, waving it lightly): "A little gift... Or let's say a deal."
Akaino (his eyes follow the scroll, then looks at him sharply): "The Nithral antidote... I didn't expect it to arrive so soon."
Yuri (takes a step forward): "That drug... It's three times the price of what we have. Don't tell me you brought it out of generosity."
Shoro (chuckles a short laugh): "Generosity? I don't have the luxury of it, but I do have a special appreciation for those who bring chaos to the system."
Akaino(serious tone, his gaze shifts to hardness): "What's the price?"
Shuro (steps closer until the shadow of his face is visible in the dim light): "I want something simple... One skull, for just one person."
To be Continued ....