Volume 4: Beneath the Scarlet Helix
Chapter 1 - Brothers in Blood
The storm that had whispered warnings through the alleyways of Hukitaske Pharmacy now bellowed with a vengeance. The sun barely pierced the clouds that morning. Rain danced off the pharmacy's roof, painting silver trails across the windows.
Inside, Akio sat quietly at the front desk, a steaming mug of herbal tea in hand. But it wasn't warmth he sought. He was staring at the photo once more—Hakurage Yakasuke, the stranger in the photo. The mastermind. The one orchestrating the attacks and he could tell that it was him just by looking at him.
And the stranger who looked too much like Hikata.
Hikata entered from the back room, brushing his messy hair out of his face. "You called for me?"
Akio turned the photo around and held it up.
"Who is this?"
Hikata's eyes darkened. The playful smirk he often wore faltered.
"That's... my older brother."
Silence fell. It was not the silence of confusion, but of long-forgotten wounds reopening.
"He was always cruel to me," Hikata said, voice low. "He hated how carefree I was. I was never good enough. Not smart enough. Not obedient enough. He left when I was ten. Left me and Mom without a word. Never called. Never came back."
Akio remained still, his fingers tightening around the photo.
"Do you love him?"
Hikata whispered, voice calm but steady with a mix of pain and resolve.
"No... I never did. I never loved him. Because he never gave me a reason to. Just judging from the photo—he's in a lab coat—he's working with them now. Our enemies. Damn... I guess that means we'll have to take him out."
He looked away, bitterly.
"Just from your expression, I can tell you know something. But whether it's hard for me or not, it doesn't change the truth—he never loved me, Akio. So if he ends up dead or arrested... I won't cry. He's a murderer. He chose this path."
Akio looked at Hikata, eyes steady.
"He's their leader now... our enemy. But are you ready for this?"
He paused, letting the silence press for just a second.
"If yes, then we go. If no, we'll find another way—one that doesn't involve you. No death, no vengeance. Just justice. But if you are ready to face the truth... and take down the brother who treated you like nothing—not out of hate, but to protect the people who still believe in you—then come with me."
His voice softened.
"If not, you can walk away. No shame in it. But this is real now. No going back."
Hikata lowered his head, hands clenched at his sides. After a long breath, he looked up, eyes clear.
"Then let's do it. But not to kill. We're not murderers, Akio. We take the lab down. We get him arrested. We expose every sick thing they've done. Justice—not revenge."
He gave a small smile, nostalgic.
"Akio Hukitaske... my first real friend. Guess that never changed, huh? Lets do this old friend..."
Akio grinned.
"Nope. Still stuck with me."
They both laughed, the tension fading for a moment, and for the first time in a long while, the pharmacy felt calm again—home to two best friends standing side by side, ready to take back what was stolen.
Scene 2: Three Shadows Descend
That night, the attack came.
Not with bombs, nor with fire—but with silence. Precision. Three figures cloaked in shadows emerged through the alleyways like apparitions. They moved like trained assassins, every step calculated.
One disabled the perimeter sensors with a quiet EMP burst. Another planted surveillance disruptors across the block. The third? He simply walked in the front door, calm as death.
Akio was ready.
But he wasn't enough.
Scene 3: Fall of the Name
The attack was surgical. Inside, Akio met the trio head-on. Each of them wore insignias stitched into their coats—twisted DNA strands colored red.
"You're with Hakurage," Akio said.
"We are his voice," said the tallest. "And today, the world sees you for what you are: a fraud."
They streamed footage live to the Net—edited clips painting Akio as a rogue doctor, a back-alley dealer experimenting on patients.
Raka fought back first, drawing two syringes and engaging them in hand-to-hand. Rumane shielded patients, guiding them into the basement. Misaki screamed for backup, but interference jammed all signals.
Yamataro broke into the city grid. "They've hacked the news feeds," he growled. "They're broadcasting this to everyone."
Akio, blood dripping from his arm, stood amid the chaos. "You want the truth? Here it is."
And then he broadcast his own signal—his confession. The truth of his past. His transformation. The lab. His daughter. The dream he rebuilt.
Unfiltered. Raw. Because he thought it was sick to hide it even from the world that rejected him and because the truth was the only explanation...
Scene 4: Break the Mirror
The city paused.
The false footage and the truth ran side by side. Split screens. Split hearts.
Public opinion teetered.
The trio faltered, shaken by the sheer emotional gravity of Akio's message.
In that moment, Hikata arrived.
He didn't come to fight. He came to speak.
"Hakurage Yakasuke is my brother. He abandoned this city, our family, and science for cruelty. I won't let him write our story."
With Hikata's words and Akio's truth, the city chose.
Scene 5: Ashes and Roots
The attackers fled. But not before planting seeds of ruin. The pharmacy was ruined. Reputations scarred.
But in the days that followed, messages arrived.
Not hate. Not fear.
Support.
Letters. Food. Names of families needing help. A mural appeared on the pharmacy's wall: a phoenix rising from mortar and pills.
Akio stood before it with Hikata.
"Your brother still hides," Akio said. "But now we know where to look."
"And this time," Hikata replied, "we go together."
[Next: Volume 4, Chapter 2 — Scarlet Labyrinth]