Kanashi followed the back of Akatora closely, compared to Jin it looked small so small and weak, it had been a while since he’d seen anyone stronger then Akatora and Kenji baring Domushi. But now that he’d once again had that ranking put into his mind he was surprised at how Akatoras back despite being small and weak stood perhaps the highest of all.

  Of course he’d stand tall, he’s 6 '6 and like 400 lbs of pure muscle, I’m just comparing apples to oranges. He muttered, rubbing his brow.

  “...”

  “...”

  “Hey Akatora.” Kanashi said, breaking the silence after it had dragged on for another few minutes during their walk to the casino's rear garage.

  “...”

  “I just want you to know that I’m still on your side too. Without you… I don’t know where I’d be right now… but probably somewhere I don't even wanna think about. So you can still trust me. I swear on that.”

  “I know.” Akatora said without turning around.

  # # #

  The sound of the car running over the rough road was deafening, it reminded Kanashi somewhat of driving through the desert of Saharis when going on vacation as a kid. Over time he’d begun to learn the roads of Tousen to an extent and his Edogo had improved enough to understand the mutterings of the radio. Talk of the weather, politics, what celebrity had been caught with who, but not a single mention of the Toumeikan, the Orochi Kingdom, the Tsunamis which had struck the country only the day before. Life simply moved on, people were unaware of the danger which lurked just behind them, they had no concept of the danger the entire country- no, the danger that the entire world was in.

  And all of it rode on the shoulders of the few, or did it? The world was large, massive even, there were billions of people living on it, trillions of animals and plants. The world was too large for everything to be solely on the shoulders of the Venator Society, surely there must be another out there fighting for justice just like Kanashi. Surely there was another group fighting for their own form of justice however twisted. There were knights, generals, warriors, mages and gods around the world at that very moment fighting. War in the [Long Dunes] raged onwards, people in Gaboon were being enslaved to mine dangerous but rare metals. A landslide in Shipobo killed ten thousand, a plague had spread in Yukiyama, the Purplefoot toad was officially declared extinct. A new species, the razorshell humpback turtle was discovered in the Gekko River and a cruise ship was lost during a storm in the Doggerland Strait. The world continued to move without pause, perhaps what Kanashi was experiencing right now was simply passing too, continuing to fade in the winds of time, the threads of fate not bending to his life, he was not the main character of this story. He was just another cog in the machine. Sure at this moment he was an important cog, the belt he carried that of salvation, stopping the world from ending by getting the Spear of Longinus out of Edoland and piercing the Philosopher's stone, to use that single wish to destroy the horseman of the end so they couldn’t destroy the world when the year turned 2500. That was the belt which at this moment was running along his shoulders as he ground forwards. But he was not the one to piercing the stone, he was not the one to make the wish, he was not the one to save the world. He was just Kanashi Sarumalder, the one who helped the Edoland Liberation. Like the passing of the torch he was only the middle runner who was forgotten as soon as he passed it on. Someone else getting the glory of lighting the goblet.

  But that didn’t change the way he felt right now. He wanted to be more, he wanted to do more, he wanted to participate in the Edoland liberation, he didn’t want to be sidelined. He had fought so hard and went so far to reach this point, and while he wasn’t one to brag or praise himself he felt as if he was owed the right to be a part of this. But that wasn’t something he was strong enough to say, no he only could hope and wish that someone would ask him “Do you want to join?” And that disgusted him. Like when he was a kid who sat on the bench watching the other kids play hoping and wishing that they would ask if he wanted to play as well. But that never happened, no one ever offered that hand to him.

  Happy thoughts, happy thoughts. Kanashi thought, shaking his head. “Say, Akatora.” He asked, looking at the man sitting next to him with his arms crossed.

  “...”

  “Why are we going to meet Rasetsu anyways? Does she have something important for us or are we gonna break her outta prison? Does she have a hidden passageway tucked behind a poster of a hot model which she dug out with a plastic spoon?”

  “We only get chopsticks in Edoland.” Akatora said.

  “Okay you’re missing the point…” Kanashi frowned. “Why’re we going to meet her?”

  “Because I made a promise to her, and I intend to fulfill it.”

  “What’s the promise?” Kanashi asked, tilting his head.

  Akatora let out a deep breath through his nostrils and turned to Kanashi. “To destroy the Toumeikan.”

  “W-what? Why would she want that? And why would you go along with it!? Isn’t your whole goal to reshape the Toumeikan? Make it more modern and respectable?"

  “My promise was to destroy the Toumeikan, but that doesn’t specify what or when. I'm not going to erase it, I'm simply going to destroy the Toumeikan as it is now and rebuild it like I said I would.”

  “Oh, I guess that kinda makes sense… assuming Rasetsu is fine with your word play.”

  “...”

  “...”

  “...”

  “Normally when you make a promise it’s to get something in return, you don’t tell someone's secret and in return they don’t tell yours. So what kinda thing are you getting in return?’

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  “The tunnels of Tousen.” Akatora answered.

  “Huh?” Kanashi frowned, tiling his head. “Like subways and storm drains?”

  “No, Tousen is an old city, and the Toumeikan is an old organization, while for a long time moving at night when only lanterns lit the way was enough to avoid detection once electricity was brought to the world 350 years ago that changed, suddenly beacons illuminated from above like the sun was up no matter the time of day. So the Toumeikan made tunnels, tunnels only some know about.”

  “But what’s so important about them then? I mean they sound like a good way to move quickly but I mean doesn’t your plan involve them going to get me in broad daylight?”

  “Because Kobe is the one who travels by those tunnels.”

  “Shouldn’t Jin be able to find them then with his [Pure Eyes]? He has X-ray vision, you know.” Kanashi said, using his fingers to stretch his eyes wide.

  “The tunnels have been coated in billions of runes over the centuries, while it might be possible I don’t think it’s doable in a single day. This is how I can get the information in a single day.”

  “I guess that makes sense…” Kanashi muttered, nodding his head.

  “We’re almost there.” Akatora said, nodding his head towards the dashwindow.

  Following his line of sight Kanashi saw the giant complex before him the Royal Blue Prison, his stomach turning to knots.

  # # #

  “You brought me a present?” Rasetsu asked as she looked at Kanashi, her fox-like eyes turned upwards and thin red lips drawn into a smirk.

  Having been prepared for her teasing Kanashi stood tall and crossed his arms, though he was only up to Akatoras shoulder and was under half as wide he still managed to hold his own presence, albeit with sweat dripping down his chin.

  “Your confidence has grown, I like that, makes it more fun to break you.” Rasetsu giggled covering her mouth as her pipe puffed smoke in her other hand.

  “Enough, Rasetsu.” Akatora sighed, “You know why I’ve come and you know what I want.” He said.

  “You’re no fun Ko-kun.” Rasetsu sighed, taking a hit of her wooden pipe.

  “Don’t just go and give me nicknames now.” Akatora frowned, uncrossing his arms and letting them fall to his side he approached the glass closer.

  “The liberation is ready, tomorrow the pieces are set, all the pieces are there except for yours.”

  “How can I offer you my piece if I’m stuck in here? With your size I doubt it will fit through that little slot I have.” Rasetsu teased.

  “Enough!” Akatora barked, though not quite a yell or shout it was enough to clear the room.

  Rasetsu paused and looked down at the pipe in her hand, the fine wood engraved with various shapes and designs, the tobacco inside the chamber emitting a bitter smell which she pushed out of her nose. “The tunnels…” Rasetsu began before pausing. “They’re a place not many can handle to walk through, true darkness exists in them.” She said her eyes quivering for a moment.

  “Like there’s no lights on?” Kanashi asked. Dank hidden tunnels with nothing but a flashlight doesn’t sound very safe to me.

  “No!” Rasetsu barked. “Even I could barely handle walking through that… place. No it’s too polite to call them tunnels; they are the entrance to Tarturas!”

  “Enough, Rasetsu, you know who I am, you know what I’ve done. Nothing you warn me of can stop me, no darkness is strong enough to suffocate my flames.”

  Rasetsu calmed herself slightly, though the pipe in her hand still trembled.

  “The tunnels are the sex trafficking highway of the Toumeikan, Kuroyama specifically uses them, I only used them a handful of times but I refused to enter after what I saw in them. That place might just be enough to break you, Taishi Akatora.”

  “Wait sex trafficking, what the fuck are you talking about!?” Kanashi asked, his throat going dry. He knew the Toumeikan was dirty that it held filth which he could not wash off but hearing of what Rasetsu said and the images which flashed through his head the felt the urge to slice his own arm off to remove the mark of the beast which Akatora had bestowed upon him.

  “Fufufufu, you truly don’t understand, do you boy, just how deep the hole can go, it must be hard for someone like you who’s never stuck their finger in it.”

  “It is true that the Toumeikan is far from clean, even the images most find to be disgusting doesn’t cover the surface of what lies beneath, but I plan to destroy everything , even the very ashes turned to nothing.”

  “I hope so Taishi Akatora, I hope you’re able to hold that belief when you witness pure evil.”

  “Akatora, Rasetsu wait a moment! I need to understand something right now! There are people right now being held in tunnels? I- knew this kinda thing happened, but under my own feet? It feels so…” Kanashi trailed off as he stared at his hands, how much evil had simply happened beneath him or under his nose the whole time. He had already known that the world moved without him, but to think that it moved around him was different. “Please, we need to help!”

  “And that we will be Kanashi.” Akatora said sternly. “But without the tunnel layout I won’t know how.” He said, turning to Rasetsu.

  “R84F.” She said,

  Akatora smiled slightly and let out a sigh. “Thank you.”

  “Wait what does that mean?” Kanashi asked to turn to Akatora and then back to Rasetsu.

  “The location of the map to the tunnels, R84F, but know that it’s guarded tightly.”

  “Human?” Akatora asked, his eyes sharpening suddenly.

  “No, but a human will know about it as soon as you enter.”

  “Tch, go figure.” He sighed, rubbing his brow.

  “Can’t I just do it then?” Kanashi asked, raising his hand. His senses once again grounded even if his hands still shook and his lips pale blue. “If you go and get caught then it’ll be the end to everything while on the other hand at this point my capture or death doesn’t mean anything, the liberation will go on that much is set up, at least this way I can do something other than just sit around. I can help free those people.”

  “...” Rasetsu held her tongue and looked to Akatora whose face twisted in deep thought.

  “If you or Jin or anyone else goes we’re busted, just me and Kenji, we’ve faced worse.” Kanshi said with a grin.

  “I’ll allow it.” Akatora sighed.

  “Haha, great.” Kanashi sighed in relief. “But where is R84F?”

  “I’ll take you there myself, that's what I have to do.” Akatora nodded.

  BZZZ!

  With the sound of the buzzard the meeting with Rasetsu had come to a close and the door began to slowly creak open, the many locks which held in place being undone.

  “Akatora…” Rasetsu said before a short pause.

  “Yes?” Akatora asked, looking at the woman through the reinforced glass screen.

  “Will you destroy it? All of it?”

  “Not even the ashes will be left.” Akatora answered with a grin to which Rasetsu let out a warm smile upon hearing.

  Akatoras name is spelt as 赤虎 meaning Red Tiger, the Kanji Aka 赤 meaning Red and Tora 虎 meaning Tiger. As for why Rasetsu called Akatora “Ko-Kun.” That's a bit more complex.

  When Japan adopted Hanzi from China and turned into their own character alphabet “Kanji” they faced the problem of now having 2 ways to say the same word. For example in Chinese the word for Mountain is Shān (Said more like Shen) but Japan already had their own word mountain being Yama.

  So to counter this problem they created Kunyomi and Onyomi, Kunyomi being the Japanese reading and Onyomi being the Chinese. So 山 the Kanji for mountains Kunyomi is “Yama” while the Onyomi is “Sen” (Or “San” since Japanese likes to be confusing).

  The Kunyomi for Tiger 虎 is Tora the Japanese word while the Onyomi or chinese reading is “Ko”. So Rasetsu shortened Akatora's name and used the Onyomi reading to call Akatora “Ko-Kun.”

  Another thing that Japanese likes to have also is to give one Kanji not only a one or two Kunyomi and Onyomi but multiple. For example the Kanji Ue 上 meaning “Up” has over 10 Kunyomi and 3 Onyomi. Why you may ask? Well it’s a way to shorten how many characters there are. Yeah you can make a character for every single word, but that just makes it harder to learn how to read. So instead you use the same Kanji for multiple words. Ue 上 means up or above while Nobori 上り means to climb or ascend, 上げる Ageru means to lift.

  There’s also more poetic readings like you can use 上 to mean “Kami” Which is also the same way God 神 is pronounced. Why exactly? Because it sounds flowery and poetic, also because “God” is in the sky I guess.

  Finally to end this rant there’s also unique name readings, you see in Japanese, names have no rules, for example a name can be written as 上山 meaning "Upper Mountain” and most people would see that and think “Ueyama” the Kunyomi reading. But you can also use the Onyomi so it could be read as “Jousen” you can also mix and match the two so you could have “Jouyama” (Which I did) or if you really want to be confusing you can just go “Nuh Uh” and says it’s read as “Jinsei” which it isn’t a Onyomi or Kunyomi reading it’s just a reading you made up. There’s actually a real issue in Japan about this right now where people are naming their kids weird foreign names and using Kanji that no one would know how to read as your kids name. It’s like saying “Quiswant” is read as “Croissant ” and expecting people to understand that.