Even so, we are living in the present

Chapter 26 – Rage and Advice

While the Underground Public Safety Forces and the Shinoda gang members were clashing, Tomoya and Natsume’s father had fled after his contract with the Shinoda gang was dissolved.

“Hah, hah.”

Out of breath, he rushed to his car parked in a toll parking lot a short distance away, unlocked his own car with the keyless device, and slipped into the driver’s seat. As he started the engine, the passenger door opened.

“!?”

What he found was Natsume getting into the car, emitting an enraged expression. Having been told to escape yet unable to return home, he was loitering in the vicinity when he witnessed his father leaving the base.

“… Y-You are.”

“You’re the one who kidnapped Tomoya, aren’t you!!”

His father could say nothing in reply to the furious shout that reverberated even within the car. Natsume’s right hand gripped the other man’s chest and drew him closer.

“…”

When the other party tensed up, even a demon being glared in such a way would flee.

“I’m going to kill you!!”

“Hii…”

The man can only gulp down his breath due to the sheer murderous intent. Natsume glared down for a while at such a situation.

“Well, you ain’t worth killing, you know. You can live alone for the rest of your life. Don’t ever come near me or Tomoya again.”

Then he released his hold on his chest. However, the next moment, he formed a fist with his right hand and struck the other man in the face with all his strength.

“Buheee!”

Leaving his father with a wobbly concussion, Natsume got out of the car and left the scene as if nothing had happened.

“… Hmm?”

While walking home, an ambulance-like vehicle approached the Shinoda group’s base with sirens blaring in the distance.

“What is it?”

He quietly increased his walking speed and approached the base. Apart from the emergency vehicle, a police car had also arrived. Natsume asked what was going on so as not to be seen from the shadows of another building. From inside, a group of stern men who had apparently been beaten to a pulp were brought out. Those were the members of the Shinoda gang, who had been defeated by the Underground Public Safety Forces. Apparently, all of them, including the gang leader, were arrested.

“…”

After peering at them for a while, the entire Shinoda gang was soon placed in a police van and transported away.

“…”

However, Natsume would not leave the scene.

What about Tomoya…?

He had been unbearably anxious about his little brother. Within a few moments, a rush of paramedics entered the base with a stretcher, eventually carrying the limp figure of Tomoya.

“Tomoya!”

He leaped out before he could even contemplate.

“N-Natsume!?”

The emergency medical personnel transporting Tomoya along with Akira, who had been accompanying him, stood in front of Natsume, unable to hide his surprise at his unexpected appearance. Natsume grasped him by the shoulders.

“Is Tomoya safe!?”

“Why did you come? I told you to return home.”

While gently releasing the hand that gripped his shoulders, Akira peered into the other’s face. Upon failing to abide by his words, Natsume clicked his tongue with an awkward expression on his face.

“I-I know that… but I made sure I didn’t get too close to you! What about Tomoya!?”

Regardless of any words spoken, he would not be satisfied unless he heard the truth about what he had just encountered. With that kind of spirit, Akira sighed and began to speak in a quiet tone so that the others could not hear him.

“Tomoya was injected with… drugs, so he will be detoxified at the hospital.”

“… So that’s what this is about, I see.”

Just as Natsume was beginning to understand why his younger brother was being transported in an emergency vehicle, Akira’s expression faded.

“And also…”

“…?”

Natsume’s expression grew grim too, as he wondered if there was more to the story.

“The main reason it happened was to pay off his father’s debts.”

“… I knew it.”

It was within the realm of expectation. That was why he had even gone so far as to mercilessly strike his father in the face earlier.

“And…”

“What, there’s still more to it?”

Natsume folded his hands and adopted a posture of listening to the end of the story. After a moment of silence, Akira’s mouth opened gravely.

“… He was attacked by one of the members of the gang.”

“Ah?”

A low, intimidating question mark leaked out. Immediately, Akira bowed deeply.

“I’m sorry! We were too late to save him.”

“He was rap*d? Tomoya was!?”

He questioned with a vigor that mirrored Akira’s words. His lowered head made a small, definite nod.

“Damn! How dare they did that to my Tomoya… I’ll kill them!!”

”Natsume, you can’t, you mustn’t kill them!”

He raised his head in a panic, and this time Akira seized both of Natsume’s shoulders and their gazes met straight away. Natsume’s eyes sadly reflected the light.

“Then… then, what can I do!!”

“Tomoya’s recovery comes first.”

Quietly and calmly, he enlightened the other party.

“Damn…”

“I beat him up as hard as I could. I must have broken his teeth and nose… even though that doesn’t mean I made him atone for it…”

“I ain’t gonna forgive him if he dies.”

When Natsume added, as if it were only natural, Akira nodded his head in agreement.

“Yes, you don’t have to forgive them. But that doesn’t mean you can’t take revenge, either. Leave it to me, and I will guarantee that he will never be able to use the symbol of a man again.”

Natsume rolled his eyes somewhat joyfully at the words stated so matter-of-factly.

“… Are you serious?”

“Of course. So, Natsume, stay by Tomoya’s side. He’s sleeping now.”

The corners of his mouth turned up slightly as he nodded his head in assurance, and Natsume was finally able to settle down and shake his head.

“I understand… I’m grateful for your help.”

“The feeling is mutual. See you then.”

After saying this, he gently pushed Natsume back and encouraged him to get into the emergency vehicle.

“Ah… see you later.”

He lightly gave a bow to Akira, who gently waved at him, and stepped into the emergency vehicle in which Tomoya was staying.

“Well then, let’s go and have a chat with the gang members.”

Once the ambulance was off, Akira informed the members. What he meant here by “go and have a chat” was “punishing” or “torturing” them.

Since it also included ensuring that the man’s symbols could never be used again, this was no lie. For a person from the underworld to cause an incident involving a person from the surface society would be a grave crime. The three sedans that had surrounded the Shinoda gang’s base silently left the scene.

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Tomoya was taken to a special emergency facility, and Natsume accompanied him. While Tomoya was sleeping in a private room, he was treated with an IV drip of an antidote.

The area around his eyes was red and swollen from crying. Both of his wrists were bandaged with bruises from being bound.

His lower body had been violently raped, and the inside of his body, where the symbol of a man had been implanted, was severely stained, requiring him to have his intestines cleaned out before being brought to the private room.

But regardless of how clean he looked, the scars on his mind would likely not heal for the rest of his life.

When Tomoya awoke the next time, Natsume would face the realization that his heart was more damaged and ruined than he expected