In the end, he let a river wash the ashes away.
Hamazura Shiage just couldn't throw them away in the automated kitchen waste device. He knew he had only satisfied himself in doing so and that it was polluting the environment, but he still resisted the idea of throwing what used to be a human in with the kitchen waste.
(…I'm terrible.)
He had parted with Takitsubo and was now thinking to himself while absentmindedly walking along a path on the riverside.
(I wasn't feeling for the person in the bag, I was just afraid that I could be next. I only did it because I didn't want to be disposed of that way when I died.)
"Damn it…"
He withstood the urge to ask himself if he really had to go back to Item and started back in their direction.
That was when someone called out to him.
Hamazura ignored the person and started to continue on, but the person grabbed his shoulder from behind.
Before he could turn around, a blow hit him.
He received damage to the back of his head and fell to the dirty ground.
He heard a laugh and looked over. He saw 3 boys he had never seen before. One of them was holding a golf club. He had been the one who had hit Hamazura.
(…!? Thieves?)
Eighty percent of Academy City's population was made up of students. At certain times, the student dorms were almost completely empty. There were some armed groups of delinquents who worked as thieves and used those times to their advantage.
"I was right. I've seen this guy before. He's from the District 7 Skill-Outs, right?"
"Weren't they destroyed?"
"Who cares? We're gonna kick his ass here."
With that they all laughed. Hamazura had kicks fly at him from all directions before he could say anything. They all did nothing but laugh.
"You know what, Skill-Out? Until just a bit ago, we had a hard time living from day to day."
"Your leader…Komaba, was it? He was a huge pain in the ass. He made it so we couldn't do our job very well."
"To make up for that, we're gonna fuck your face up so much they'll only be able to identify you as 'Boy A'. Understand?"
Hamazura wanted to say that that wasn't his fault, but a kick hit him the side. He had trouble breathing and couldn't speak.
(Damn…it…)
The unknown face within the sleeping bag came to his mind. He couldn't get the scene of the guy being burnt in the electric furnace and the ash being swept away in the river out of his mind. The fact that he too could be utterly eliminated that way and the triviality of a Level 0's life filled his head.
Then a metal pipe about the thickness of a thumb that was used for propane gas rolled along the dirty ground.
Hamazura Shiage did not hesitate.
"!!"
He grabbed the L-shaped pipe and swung it forcefully to the side.
It hit the piece of shit with the golf club in the ankle and Hamazura felt the guys' bone crack. The idiot fell to the ground screaming and Hamazura stood up covered in blood as if to replace him. He swung the pipe down again getting another blow in.
The other two delinquents yelled something, but Hamazura ignored them.
He swung the pipe down yet again on the collapsed guy and pleasant screams entered his ears.
One of the other boys pulled a hammer out of his bag upon hearing that.
Hamazura thought he might seriously be in trouble. The metal pipe was quite destructive, but it was still difficult to knock someone out with it in one blow. If this turned into a drawn-out fist fight, it was possible they would take each other out.
But he still didn't feel like stopping his attacking hands.
The feeling of the synthetic fabric of the black sleeping bag felt surprisingly fresh on his palm.
And then…
"Over here, Hamazura!!"
At the same time as that shout, the boy holding the hammer's neck was knocked to the side with a crack. Before Hamazura realized the boy had been hit with something like a brick, someone had grabbed his arm.
"Come on, you idiot! Let's get the hell outta here!!"
Hamazura felt oddly lethargic as he ran away while being dragged by the arm.
After being escorted away for a bit, he finally realized who that voice belonged to.
"Is that…Hanzou?"
It was a boy who had been a Skill-Out member along with him and had acted alongside him frequently. Hamazura thought about his former Skill-Out activities and concluded that Hanzou must have been thinking of stealing another ATM if he was wandering around this area.
Hanzou spoke in a completely shocked voice.
"You idiot! Did you completely forget the rules of the back alleys? If you get hung up on who wins and who loses, you end up dead. If you care about whether you live or die, you need to give up on always winning!"
The two boys looked behind to confirm that no one was pursuing them and stopped.
Hamazura looked at Hanzou's face with a mystified expression on his own face.
"Why did you save me? I ruined Skill-Out and then ran out on the punishment."
"That isn't something for you to say," responded Hanzou in an uninterested voice. "You need to realize that we don't bear a grudge against you. We don't think it was your fault. No matter who was the leader at that time, Skill-Out would have fallen."
"…"
"It wasn't a nice enough path to make me want to cling to the past. Well, I'll admit it was pretty fun up through the part where I polished up the plan, you got us some assistance, and Komaba was leading the attack."
"Yeah," said Hamazura in an emotionless voice. "You've got a point. It was a shitty life, but it was fun."
"…What are you going to do now?"
"I dunno. I get the feeling it'll be pretty much the same no matter where I end up. Even if I went back to Skill-Out, it wouldn't be like back then. I don't think there's any value in going back."
Hamazura spat out those words and started to turn his back on Hanzou.
Hanzou took something out of this pocket and tossed it to Hamazura.
"Take it. From what happened back there, I'm guessing you don't have much as far as weapons go."
It was a small handgun that's grip only made it halfway down his palm.
"…This is a lady's gun."
"Does it really matter? A weapon that's a little hard to use is perfect. If it sits too comfortably in your hand, you'll just shed unnecessary blood."
Hamazura spun the gun around in his hand and put it away in his sleeve.
This time he left the alley without looking back at Hanzou.
His next job for Item was most likely waiting for him.