Impostor Syndrome. The phenomenon of self-doubt in one's intellect, skills, and accomplishments among high-achieving individuals. That one doesn't belong, a faker, an impersonator, an "impostor" amongst the capable. Belief in unqualified incompetence when everyone else around you knows what they're doing.
Chouko was more than familiar with this phenomenon, long before she disappeared from the public eye. Left by her lonesome to act, she was discovered as such an individual. An impostor amidst scholars, proven a failure by her lonesome.
Chouko - in her eyes - rationalized her failures as a necessary sacrifice. Unable to be a prodigy as the classwork felt meaningless to her. Unable to be the head of the Ashford businesses as she held no rights to the legacy Father raised her into. Unable to keep any of the belongings of her childhood, unable to keep hold of what Father left behind, unable to maintain any of the fame and reputation Father could hold.
Nothing felt right to Chouko after that day. The lone, remaining "Ashford", daughter to a dead family. The bloodline of Charles Ashford gone and taken. Any attempt to rationalize anything in her life, met with this sour and rancid feeling in her blood.
All she could think about was Kuroiwa.
Kuroiwa.
One single thought ran rampant through her mind, that she wanted to make Kuroiwa suffer by any means necessary.
Sun Tzu put it best. Know thy self, know thy enemy. If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.
Chouko needed to become what she despised the most, her enemy. Become one of them. A mercenary, a killer, a faceless individual. She needed to kill Chouko Ashford, to kill herself again and again. To disconnect herself from this innocent little girl.
Thus, the persona was born. and she took the name she despised the most. The Stalker of the Underworld, Kuroiwa.
"... you're really calling yourself that?"
Chouko faintly remembers her first meeting with the Underworld. Around her fall from grace, she fled the UK and returned to the city where it all began. Endangering herself in the shady streets of New York City, a blind gambit to gather attention from unseen entities.
By some miracle, she's encountered her gateway into this dark side of the country. A man that served as her handler at the start, an informant that saw opportunity with the literal rich girl that had some semblance of fortune left. The man went by the name of "Charon", a reference to the 'ferryman' that delivered souls to the Underworld. A man whose face she remembers vividly, with cigarette ash in his thick beard.
"Indeed. Is there going to be a problem with that?" Chouko asked, her face unfazed as those inquisitive words were uttered.
"... lass. You're not exactly clever, are you?" Charon asked in return. "Naming yourself after your mortal enemy's risky, especially if it's that name. No way it's going to work unless you're willing to pay the price for it."
Chouko glared at the man. "You know my reasons, Mr. Charon. No price is too much for me."
"Just Charon will do, brat, and- obviously, there's now a price too much for you. Given your whole 'death of your father' and 'failing businesses'..." the man responded, before taking another puff of his sigarette. Letting out a sigh with rolling eyes. "... ever heard of Confucius. Chinese philosopher. Once said 'before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves.'"
Chouko pondered on that for a moment, before she responded. "Actually, that quote is misattributed to him by Western authors, but I am familiar. Point being?"
YOU ARE READING
Revenge Fantasy
Mystery / ThrillerKuroiwa. A known name throughout the black market, belonging to a figure that has gone unseen. Every job they post, regarded in the highest demand by countless criminals and mercenaries. Every job they take, carried out with a terrifying and inevita...
