Count me out

Chapter 8

They managed to meet up with Chuuya and Tanizaki within a matter of minutes. Tanizaki looked irritated while Chuuya moved into, what seemed to be, a container. The shipping container wasn't wide but it stood taller than everyone at around ten feet tall. It was a dull blue colour, covered in dust - clearly having been out of use for some time. Other than it's obvious aging, there seemed to be nothing defaced about the storage unit. Atsushi realised why Junichiro was so irritated.

There wasn't any grafiti on the sides.

"This isn't where the message is." Chuuya explained, seemingly picking up on the emotions of the other people around him, "We need to collect some stuff, if we want to get information."

The hinges creaked painfully; wincing as it was pushed open. Peering in, all Atsushi could see were shards. Glittered fragmentation of bottles, old glass and other various items, as well as chipped shards of ceramics. They seemed firmly planted onto the ground, all sunken below the soil, jutting out with the intent to harm whoever tried to walk inside. The only area within the container that did not have any old, dusted glass was at one of the furthest corners - where a black duffel bag laid.

Chuuya began to walk into the container; Atsushi watched with barely veiled awe as he travelled an inch above the shard tips, with the help of his ability. He continued to walk with an easy grace to him; picking up the bag and returning back.

"Now, we can talk to a group."

"What's the bag for?", Kunikida questioned. They had began to carry on walking, maintaining their descent into the Stomach of the slum.

"It's full of stuff a group would need; bandages, money, like a sheet where they can get protection, written by previous kids and other miscellaneous items" Chuuya explained, it was important to offer something for information as most likely, the kids wouldn't say anything otherwise.

They further pass dilapidated buildings, Atsushi felt like time wasn't a thing as he kept walking with what it seems to be no finish. However, as they reach clearer to 'the stomach' of the slums, his nose picked up the tangy, acrid familiar scent: blood.

Immediately, his guard was raised. The smell wasn't a stench that overpowered his senses but instead was lingering. Almost unassuming and secretive as it's rich scent interfered his nostrils.

As they kept walking, he kept smelling blood. Almost as if the crimson liquid was seeped into the marshy ground everywhere. Nobody else seemed to be reacting to it, probably not able to, due to a lack of heightened sense of smell.

A small, teenage boy stood further ahead to them. He wore clothes that seemingly dwarfed him, his shirt, which had some drawings scribbled on, barely staying on his shoulders showing the signs of past scrapes in the form of grazes and scars. He seemed sinewy - with muscles flexing slightly underneath his pale, slim figure as he was smoking a cigarette; sucking the smoke in greedily before blowing it out after a few seconds. Kunikida frowned,

"Hey kid." Chuuya called, the boy tensed up before looking at the group.

"What do you want, old man", angrily scowling, the boy spits back.

"Who are you calling an old man,punk?!" Chuuya retorted annoyed, "We need some info from you."

"I don't know SHIT."

Atsushi blinked. Both of them seemed very similar; they had the same aggressive cadence as well as the harsh, expletives for vocabulary. It was becoming slightly apparent to Atsushi that Nakahara had ties to the slums that weren't mafia related...

The boy jumped slightly as the duffel bag was thrown at his feet, falling unzipped showcasing the luxury goods of extra clothes and other miscellaneous items, he smirks;
"What if I just run away? Don't tell you anything and keep this all to myself?"

"As if, you'd give it to your groupies as soon as you can." came the retaliation, "I know where they hide, I'll get the bag back if you did"

The boy stiffened, no one really wanted to delve into the unspoken promise and threat just made.

"What do you want then."

Chuuya smirks, lips stretched out victoriously, "In the area between your zone and that other group, the.. Spiders? was it?" The boy scowled at the mention of the adjacent community, "Someone wrote a message to someone we know. Did you see anyone?"

"..."

"Come on now kid." His voice turning a tad impatient, exasperated at the kid's lack of response.

"I saw a man-"

Kunikida stood up straighter, not expecting such a quick admission

"He was about his height", gesturing at tanizaki, "and he wore really odd clothes.."

"Such as?" Kunikida asked, getting a distinct clothing style of the guy would make finding him so much more easier.

"Well, he had like a nose, like it was pretty big and his chin went somewhat inwards. and he wore this HUGE hat as well as these, like, fucking weird clothes."

So the suspect was a man with a well developed nose, a receding chin and a top hat. Fucking fantastic. Chuuya thought to himself. What the fuck has he got to do with me.

"Thanks kid", Chuuya gruffly replied, nodding his head down in appreciation.

The boy stiffly reciprocated the nod before fumbling downwards to grab the chunky bag and zipping off. They watched him disappear.

Tanizaki broke the moment, "Is that it? Are we finished now?"

Chuuya decided that Tanizaki was too annoying for him to be liked.

Kunikida nodded, "Yeah, we're all done. But before we leave", he turned towards the executive, "can you explain everything that's happened. I'm not sure how this has all transpired."

Chuuya replied cordially, "We were lucky to meet that kid, he was part of one the groups surrounding the message-"

"And you knew that how?"

"I didn't really, not at first, then I noticed on his shirt. He had a drawn on this gang symbol.. stupid of him to, just becomes an identifier or target if you ask me."

Looking back on his memory of the kid, he DID have a crude drawing of a star on his shirt. Seemed like Nakahara had good observational skills..

"I recognised that symbol, kids like that had a gang right next to where the message was. There are two groups in that area, that star group and The Spiders. Spiders are mafia affiliated, that means they help the mafia by telling us information on everyone here, as well as helping with recruitment - and we reciprocate with supplies and safety"

"That's.. awful" Tanizaki spat, the idea of children already having connections with an underground syndicate like the mafia where they would slowly be groomed into future mafia grunts made him sick.

"Well, it's survival."

The tone used by Chuuya was final, a hardened edge to it as he implicitly warned Junichiro to back off the topic. Atsushi hoped it was because he himself didn't agree with the system.

"Let's head back, Akutagawa probably has already spoken to a Spider informant, so when he drops by later with my stuff, we can ask him what they know."

And with that, the small group began to trek back to the civil society they were used to, Atsushi with his slanted eyebrows and downcast eyes making sure not to look at any of the children they passed.