Found & Lost | Dystopia | Sci-fi

2

I exchange a look with Matsuo, his expression equally as puzzled as mine. The man standing between the others (who are standing alongside him awkwardly) strides two steps forward, his eyebrows scrunched in a light frown, his dark eyes landing on mine. He towers over his companions, his braids tied back in a low ponytail. He looks me up and down, observing the knives strapped to my thighs and the gun shoved in the side of my pants. He glances over to Matsuo, contemplating for a second before lighting his cigarette, letting it hang out of his mouth carelessly.

"Meet us at the back."

He turns on his heel, gesturing for the other two to follow him out. The door of the bar closes shut slowly, the three of them disappearing in the darkness.

The corners of my mouth hitch up forming a crooked grin on my face. They're playing right into our hands, and we don't even have to work for it. My previous doubts are now certainly unwarranted. Ever since we'd found out about this upcoming organization, the yakuza has been planning it's downfall, to secure our place at the top. The plan was as simple as eliminating them, and taking whatever money and drugs they've acquired over time. It sounds pathetically simple, and that's exactly how it's going to be.

Whatever people think they can overthrow the yakuza, are silenced, by none other than ourselves. They convince themselves that they can practice their own ideals, and make their own money. That they're above us, like they're saints. And look how that will end for them.

I hop off of my seat, signaling for Matsuo to come with me. I don't care if he's caught on or not. He's barely done anything so far, so I frankly couldn't give less of a fuck if he knows what I'm planning. I can handle this on my own either way.

I can feel eyes on me while I make my way out, but I pay no mind, my mind solely focused on what's laying ahead of me. The footsteps trailing behind me indicate that Matsuo is following me, somewhat hesitantly. I turn a corner to see a darkish alley, with a single light illuminating the pavement of the area behind the bar. The chatter from the people is quieter back here, creating inaudible, muffled sounds of laughter and conversations.

I stop in my tracks as I spot the three men yet again, to notice one of them looks younger than I had thought before; far too young.

I squint for a second, still not saying a word. Making a wrong step would be fatal, and they would find out we're not the ones they're looking for. That would ruin everything. And so, the same man as before approaches again, this time his expression looks violent, more dangerous.

Pretending to pay no mind, I decide to break the silence.

"Do you have it?"

"Yeah. Fukashi said you'd be here. Y'all not what I was expecting though." He says skeptically, eyeing both me and Matsuo.

He continues to observe us critically. I open my mouth to say something, anything that may help us seem more reliable, before the man lets out a low chuckle. He holds the duffel bag out for me to grab. I take it from his hands, letting out a small breath of relief.

"Now y'all got about two hours. Good luck" He says and gathers his goons as he makes his way out. I can't let that happen. He sounds incredibly naive, and that's going to cost him his life. Letting him get away is a free pass to becoming a target, plus, eliminating the organisation includes eliminating the people that take part in it.

I slide my gun out of my pants silently, and aim at the man who has his back turned to me. I put my finger on the trigger. I'm not one to hesitate. Never have been, have I? With every shot I make and with every life I take, I remember. But I've gotten over that haven't I? So now, why do I hesitate? He's already walking away. I cannot miss this shot, because if I mess this up, everything I've worked for could be over. I can't stop now.

I pull the trigger.

Matsuo rushes forward, taking on the guy to the left, hooking him around his neck and slamming him down onto the pavement. I tackle the kid and pin him down. I've killed countless people, but never someone this young. You're getting weaker. A voice spooks in my head. 'You're wrong' I reply to it, hoping to silence the distraction. Punching him in the stomach he spits blood out, onto my face. I wipe it off with my sleeve, still pressing the boy onto the ground.

"S-stop please" He sobs, eyes squeezed shut while his limbs twitch weakly. "Shut the fuck up." I utter back to him, punching the boy in his temple so hard I've either killed him, or knocked him out for long enough to forget his own name.

Three men now lay sprawled on the floor, bleeding out on the pavement, turning it crimson.

"Let's go." I say, stepping over the bodies and dragging the bag along. Matsuo wipes his hands off on his pants and trails behind me. "I need a drink." He mutters. I stop in my tracks, looking behind me slightly and raising my brow at him. I turn back again and stride towards my bike. I don't care that he wants to forget about this. It makes him feeble. Weak. Whoever let him join us didn't think it through very well, and it shows.

Checking my watch, I read the numbers and purse my lips. "It's almost nine, we have to hurry. He doesn't like to wait."

A week later

The past few days have been calm, I haven't had to deal with Kenzaki's constant whining for me to do his dirty work. He's been awfully quiet actually. That doesn't happen very often, and there can be for only two reasons: He's content, or he's about to throw a temper tantrum. I prefer the first option, the less chaos the better.

To pass the time I've spent a third of my time in the training room, taking out every single man that tried me. To maintain my imagine means that I have to continuously spark fear within our 'community'. For the remainder I joined the others in their gambling, drugs, and occasionally whores. It's been the nicest week in a while, despite the fact that I haven't shut an eye in three days. I've been hearing things, seeing things that should scare me but don't.

My body aches constantly, always nagging at me to sleep but I can't. Because I never shut an eye without remembering without waking up in fear. So, I've decided to reject sleep, until I'm forced to, which happens more often than I'd like to admit.

My peaceful lounge in the living room (of the new 'mansion' Kenzaki recently financed) is suddenly interrupted by an alarm blaring throughout the city, so loud that every single person could hear it loud and clear. What now? I think as I pinch my nose bridge in annoyance. Often these alarms warn the people for an upcoming earthquake, a heatwave or an update on the government. But this one's different. I can feel it.

Usually news like this travels fast, and within no time everyone's informed. But being closed off for a week now has resulted in complete isolation from the outside world. It feels, odd.

"Endo get over here."

It's Kenzaki, and considering he's practically been hibernating for the past week, it has to be serious. I lift my head, observing him stomp around in the other room. He's clearly stressed.

He looks at me without saying anything. There's no one else in the room, only silence. Unsure whether I should start talking first, I open my mouth, but the words don't come out. He's just standing there, his phone in his shaky hands like it's the end of the world. His eyes land on mine, clearly judging me for my ignorance.

"It's over." He says, raking his hands through his hair and pacing around the room.

"What's over? What the hell are you talking about?" I seethe.

He continues mumbling incoherently as I lose my patience.

"What I've been fearing all this time, It's here. We're screwed, we can't redeem ourselves now. Not from this-" He stops in his tracks and looks at me with a look on his face, which contained nothing but a look of pure fear.

The wheels in my head turned, and I stayed silent for a second. The worst case scenario? There were many to be taken into consideration, but it couldn't be-

With the realisation I drop every single thought that occupies my mind. My heart seems as though it just stopped beating, and in all honesty I cannot tell.

But like Kenzaki had mentioned, we are, undoubtedly, absolutely screwed.