To Slowly Move On [Part 2]

Akira arrived at his class the next day and glanced at Oriyama. Oriyama also looked over and nodded at him.

He went towards his seat and sat down. He waited for lunch break to start and dozed off.

He had been thinking about how he should deal with the ones that bullied Sakura last night.

The teacher entered and every student stood up to greet her besides Akira.

The teacher nodded at the students and narrowed her eyes at Akira but she didn't say anything and started teaching as usual after marking the attendance. None of the students said anything regarding this. What could they even say when the actual school faculty didn't care.

A few hours passed by as bells rang throughout the school indicating it was lunch break.

Akira woke up with a yawn and turned his face towards Oriyama who was also looking at him.

He gestured for Oriyama to follow him and he complied. They both reached the rooftop and Oriyama took out a piece of paper from his pocket as soon as they reached there.

Akira glanced at the piece of paper and read the names on it. 'Haru Osaka- 13, Yuu Moriyama- 15 and Kyouka Jiro- 13.'

He kept the note in his pocket and looked back at Oriyama "Did you find out the reason why they bully her?" Leaving his personal feelings aside he was confused as to why his sister who was naturally kind and sweet on the outside would get bullied.

Both Akira and Sakura got to know more about each other last year. . . . . . .Way more than they could've expected. Naturally, they never brought up the topic and continued to live how they usually did. They kept on the facade that no one besides them knew about.

"Uhm" Oriyama hesitated. The reason was so stupid that his face cringed but he would rather not antagonize Akira.

"Well, There's this girl in your sister's class that was quite proud of her looks and had a crush on someone but when your sister joined the class, Her crush got a crush on your sister, and well you can say that she didn't take that kindly."

"What the fuck?" Akira felt more anger burn inside him. What kind of stupid reason was this and How dare someone covet his sister.

Though he was confused as to why his sister never retaliated.

"Well Thanks, You can leave now." Reigning his anger in he motioned for Oriyama to leave who happily complied and ran away.

But before he could leave Akira caught his collar. "Ehm? W-What?" He nervously asked looking back.

"Tell the teacher that I'm not feeling well so I won't be attending further classes" Heaving a sigh of relief he nodded and left.

"Guess it's time to take out the trash" He muttered as he also left.

He skipped school and walked in a random alleyway. Exiting the alleyway he reached an abandoned warehouse. With his hands inside his pockets, He kicked the gate open and leisurely strolled inside.

Looking inside he saw a gang of 9 people smoking and chatting with each other while occasionally hitting a person that was on the ground. They all looked to be between 16-20 years old. All of them had tattoos all over their bodies while some were fat and others were fit or a little skinny.

The gang looked over at Akira and their eyes widened and one of them immediately spoke out "Whatcha doin' here ye bitch?" His name was five.

Everyone in the gang was named like this.

One was the leader of them.

Akira glanced at five and said nothing. Five shrank back and shuddered when those eyes looked at him as he remembered what happened last time.

One narrowed his eyes at Akira as he stopped hitting the person on the ground. "What do we need to do this time?

A few new gang members curiously looked at him wondering what the boss was talking about while the older gang members avoided looking at Akira.

Akira walked over to him and handed the paper to him that had the names on it.

One read the names on the paper and further narrowed his eyes. "What is this?"

"Names of some students from Fuyu Junior High School."

"You didn't answer my question, What do want us to do?"

"Drag them here tomorrow I have some business with them"

"We won't do it for free" He hesitated a little bit but rubbed his index finger and thumb together.

Akira nodded and took out a stack of bills. One's eyes lit up as he tried grabbing the stack but Akira pulled it away.

"What's the meaning of this?" He asked as he gritted his teeth.

"Get the job done first" Saying this Akira left not paying attention to the One's clenched fists. He knew One could do nothing against him.

"Tsk" After Akira left he clicked his tongue.

One of the newer gang members came forward "Hey boss why so polite with the punk? Should've just taken the cash"

"Shut the fuck up you dumb fuck, Do you think I'll act like that for no reason?" He spat in contempt but when he looked over he saw many of the new members were frustrated.

He knew it was better to explain.

"We originally had 10 members and unfortunately, we decided to pick on that guy and his sister one day since they looked like they were loaded. Zero our previous leader slapped his sister, Seeing that the kid raged and started to brutally beat us up." He paused as he shivered including the old members.

He continued "After beating us up he left with his sister but later that day he came back with a metal pipe and started to beat us up again. This time he didn't leave and dragged Zero away. We haven't caught a glimpse of Zero since then" The eyes of the newer members opened wide as their jaws dropped. "D-Do you mean that the kid killed the previous boss?"

"Most likely"

"WHAT THE FUCK! We should be staying as far away from him as possible!" One of them yelled.

"Stop screaming you idiot. He made us do a few jobs for him and he doesn't seem to be against us anymore. We've been working for him for quite some time now, As long as we get the job done we're safe. Just don't mention anything about his sister."

The anxious new members felt a little better hearing that and reminded themselves to not mess with his sister.

One could guess what they were thinking. "Let's just get the job done and just to be safe don't ever mess with some girl with white hair and pink eyes" The others nodded and got prepared to complete the task.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Akira reached his home and opened the door.

The house was silent and the surroundings were dark. Akira slowly walked inside as the sound of his footsteps spread around the house.

He felt weird and sad that Sakura was not by his side.

This sense of loneliness tore his heart apart.

"Mother and Father haven't returned from work, huh" He muttered as he started changing his clothes. What would the point of them returning be anyway, All they did was fight, fight, fight and fight.

He hated it.

Why couldn't they just be happy like other families? He felt repulsed when he looked at them now. They had been barely paying attention to him and Sakura the last two years.

Even when he needed them the most.

If it wasn't for his sister he might've broken down long ago.

She gave him hope. Hope that someone still loved him. His parents obviously loved him as well but it felt more like they were completing their responsibility rather than love. It just felt superficial.

Who besides his sister could he trust anyway. His parents? Maybe, But he would rather not.

Friends? All of them were two-faced. Grab the thighs of someone at their highest then spit on them when they were at their lowest. This was the true face of humanity.

True, It was easy to create real bonds but his cynicism prevented him from trusting anyone other than Sakura.

Now someone dared to torment his sister. How could he let it go? The last time someone hit his sister he snapped and did something he never thought he would do.

He prepared his food and sat down and ate in silence as his bangs covered his eyes.

___________________________

Akira got to school and attended it as usual.

The day proceeded peacefully. No one knew that today would be the worst day for three random kids.

Akira left after school was over and arrived at the warehouse earlier than the said time. He walked in and noticed only 3 people were inside.

Two, Seven, and Five had volunteered to stay at the warehouse since they felt the rest of the 6 were enough for the job. They were playing poker as usual but suddenly the gates opened and they saw Akira walk in.

Five fell off his chair and the other two started sweating. "W-What are you doing here so early?" asked Two.

Akira looked at him "When did I say I couldn't come earlier?" He proceeded to walk toward them and took off his blazer and rolled up his sleeves while also opening the top 3 buttons on his shirt.

They wondered what he was doing and instinctively shrank as they thought he was going to beat them up because he rolled his sleeve up.

"What are you doing? Distribute the cards" Said Akira after sitting down amongst them.

The other three gulped and nodded. "Give me a cig" Akira motioned to Two. Two quickly took out a smoke and gave it to Akira after lighting it up.

Akira and the other three played while he blew smoke every now and then.

First Round- Won

Second Round- Won

Third Round- Won

Fourth Round- Won

Fifth Round- Lost

"Tsk" Akira clicked his tongue. The other 3 had already gotten over their fear as they enjoyed the game.

"lololol you lost Akira pay up" Seven cheerfully said. He looked around and noticed the sudden silence. Realizing his mistake he quickly tried to cover it up "E-Ehm I was j-just joking you don't have to pay"

Akira said nothing and took out a few bills and gave it to Seven "I'm not some kind of sore loser" The 3 heaved a sigh of relief.

Before they could continue they heard muffled sounds coming from behind the door. Looking over they saw the remaining 6 drag three struggling kids inside.

They were surprised to see Akira there but didn't react much after seeing that Two, Seven, and Five were alright.

One came forward as the others dropped the struggling kids that had blindfolds and tapes on their faces.

Glancing at the three teenagers a large smile spread across Akira's face that sent a shiver down everyone present in the warehouse.

___________________________

[End]~1900 Words (Excluding Author's Note)

[A/N]~

The philosophical concept of negativity is used by phenomenological and existentialist thinkers to point to the intrinsic incompleteness of human beings. So in the simplest, most physical sense, when we feel hunger or sexual desire it is a signal that we lack something: we want food or a romantic partner to fill what we lack. That sense of 'lack' is negativity; it is what creates desire and drives (or pulls) us on.

Note that negativity can be much more subtle than these coarse physical manifestations. If we feel fear, shame, or anger it is a sign that we lack something — comfort and safety, self-worth, and worldly righteousness, respectively — and that drives (or pulls) us on to change ourselves or our worldly state.

If a scientist notices an anomaly in his data; if a person finds worldly pursuits meaningless and empty; if an artist sees something beautiful and ephemeral in his mind's eye: all of these represent lacks (negativity), and drive (or pull) the person on to craft a better theory, pursue a spiritual path, or create a work of art.

That absence, that lack, that negative reflection of the self — a reflection of what we are not, or have not done — becomes a defining force of who we are.

-Ted Wrigley (Quora)