About an hour earlier.

  A manager of a fishing company gets a call. With squinting eyes, the recently awoken manager wakes up and frustrated picks up the phone?

  "Hello? It's so damn late. Who is this!?"

  "Hello Mr. Tanagawa. This is a representative of the government speaking."

  Tanagawa looks at the phone and yells. "Fuck off this isn't funny!"

  "This is not a joke. Mr. Tanagawa, this is an urgent call presiding over your career. You work at Sundown Fishing Exports, correct?"

  Tanagawa is taken aback and looks at the phone. "Wh-who are you?" Asks Tanagawa.

  "My name is unimportant. We just ask one simple thing of you. Please fire Ushiyama Kito and Robert Baskerville tomorrow morning. You will be paid as a means for your cooperation."

  Tanagawa stammers. "I'm sorry but what for? Kito survived something terrible, and besides, they're both great workers?"

  A pause occurs between the two, before the government's side continues.

  "Red Toyota. 2 daughters. Age 45."

  Tanagawa lowers the phone and simply stares it.

  The government side of the phone continues. "Failure is not an option. And let it be known..."

  From the shadows of Tanagawa's room, A dark, cloaked figure steps forward into the light from the window. Only the silhuette of an Owl Mask appears before Tanagawa.

  "We will know if you don't comply." Finalizes the representative.

  The Owl Man whispers "Goodnight." Before flicking his finger, and forcing Tanagawa to go to sleep.

  The Owl Man then opens the window, crawls out of it and climbs up on the roof. He uses his earpiece inside the helmet and calls his boss.

  "That's one down, three more to go. It's nice to have Kito and Robert down, makes it shorter."

  "Jin," says the government side. "Focus on the task. I can't help you anymore so continue on without my help. I have to make other important phone calls. Don't forget that you have their residences to take care of as well."

  "Alright Mishima, I gotcha. Oh yeah one last thing. For each of these people, do you want me to do the thing?"

  "No. There's no reason to. We still need them to fire Kito and his crew and evict them from all of their places. What would be the point if they'd be incapacitated?"

  "Ah- yeah, sorry. Force of habit. Over and out."

  "In the name of the Rising Sun." Finishes Mishima.

  Jin rolls his eyes and repeats as well. "In the name of the Rising Sun." Jin ends the call and sighs, before morphing into an owl.

  Back at his office, Mishima sits in his chair. The office is pitch black; the only source of light is the glow on his laptop. As he finished calling Jin, he sighs to himself, muttering: "and then there's the investigation and report I have to do tomorrow." He robotically then inspects a note next to his laptop. It has various names, banks that they're associated with, and their phone numbers. He calls a contact from the note.

  Three rings. On the fourth one, the line on the other end picks up.

  "Mishima-san? Isn't it a little late?"

  "Amamiya-san, if i'm calling you this late, then you should expect what I'm going to ask."

  There's a pause on the other line of the phone.

  "That serious huh?" Says Amamiya.

  "Yes. I need you to disable all accounts of these three people within your company."

  "Alright. What are the names?"

  "Ushiyama Kito, Robert Baskerville, and Daiki Sugimoto."

  A pause occurs between them, before Amamiya responds. "Alright, i've written them down. Say... that Kito name. I've heard of it somewhere. Isn't he the guy that survived that terrible explosion today?"

  "Don't worry about it, Amamiya. Simply suspend their accounts. As for filing the money, either give it to us for evidence or by technicality, take it back to the bank, I don't care."

  "...How do you know about our policies?"

  "I wouldn't be in my current position if I didn't look over every single detail."

  "Right. Well, i'll do it in the morning. Is that all for you?"

  "Amamiya-san. I need you to do this right now. It's a matter of urgency."

  "...What for?"

  "You know that's classified."

  "Well, what do I tell my boss?"

  "Tell him it's from me. He'll understand. There shouldn't be an excuse not to do this."

  "But it's late. I go to work in 4 hours."

  "Then I guess you're clocking in early."

  Amamiya audibly sighs on the line.

  "Or," interjects Mishima. "You can choose not to do it. I don't blame you. Go back to sleep if you'd like. I'll just say this: your brother. The one we gave the scholarship to for law school...how's he doing?"

  Amamiya goes silent before responding. "He's... fine. Why do you ask?"

  "Very popular last I heard. Highest rated in your city, correct?"

  "What does he have to do with this?"

  "Yes, your brother he's a very bright man. Yet, for someone as smart as him, it's a shame he willingly committed a crime, knowing full well of the consequences."

  "What are you trying to say?" Asks Amamiya.

  "I'm not saying anything. Yet, what we found hidden in his computer was... dissapointing; revolting, even. So imagine if that got out? A scandal that would ring throughout your county- throughout your name."

  Amamiya goes silent before picking back up the phone.

  "I'll be on my way to the office. Do you need anything else?"

  "No."

  The phone hangs up.

  Mishima crosses out one name on a list next to his laptop. He then looks at the next name under Amamiya's. He sees the phone number next to the name and dials it.

  "Juzo-san," says Mishima. "I have an urgent favor to ask you..."

  .

  .

  .

  My achievements escape them

  People only look for a couple of seconds

  Admiring, before being drawn to someone better

  We care too much of what people think

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  I try not to give a fuck

  But I have to

  We have to

  That's how things are run

  And we can't run away

  So the best we can do

  Is doing what comes naturally

  And getting away with it

  After taking a minute long break, Kasumi continues to run down the road, back to the harbor.

  .

  .

  .

  At the harbor, Kito, Bara and Daiki are waiting. Kito is doing one armed pull ups from one of the ceiling steel beams, Bara is frantically tapping on his phone, and Daiki recently comes back running inside the building.

  "This is real bad," comments Kito, looking at his bank account app with his other hand. "Daiki, you went into a grocery store and tested out your bank cards right?"

  "Yes sir!" Says Daiki, exasperated. "I tested all of them; none of them worked."

  "And Bara," continues Kito. "I've seen you scrolling for a while now. What's the news."

  "This is my fourth time logging into all of my accounts sir," responds Bara. "None of them work. Also, Kasumi texted back and he said none of his accounts are able to be logged in either."

  Kito's fingers pinch onto the steel beam harder, indenting finger marks. "God damn it. This can't be a coincidence. But I have a sneaking suspicion that they also hit Robert too."

  At that moment, Kasumi also arrives at the building. With a concerned look on his face, he then asks: "Well? What's the news? How did you guys find out?"

  "It's pay-day today for Bara, Robert, and I. Bara couldn't log into his bank account. I thought it was a technical difficulty until I found an error on my account as well. We don't have the same bank so for both of these to be under maintenance would be an extreme coincidence. That's when he texted you."

  "Mine also doesn't work." Interjects Daiki to Kasumi.

  "What about Robert?" Asks Kasumi.

  "That's what we're going to check." Says Kito; he then dials up Robert's phone number. After a couple of rings, Robert eventually picks up. Kito puts the phone on speaker.

  "Kito, now is not a good time. It's late and-"

  "Your bank account. Check your bank account."

  After a brief pause, Robert then responds.

  "How did you know?"

  "Everyone's bank accounts don't work. They targeted us; there's no way this is a coincidence."

  "What do you think is happening?"

  "I think it's pretty clear that they're trying to hurt us anyway they can. It's the government, so pulling up our identities and everything associated with us is at their fingertips. If they can't kill us quickly then they'll bleed us out of our resources. Not only that, but the most important thing for a political campaign to work is money. Not to mention, living in general."

  Everyone looks at Kito.

  "So?" Asks Robert on the phone. "What do we do?"

  Kito chuckles before dropping down to the ground. "Is it not obvious?" Retorts Kito. "Despite the government desperately doing all they can to stop us, have you all forgotten? We might not have money or resources at the moment, but we have one thing 99% of the world doesn't have: power; and the will to use force. It is through force that we're able to get what we want because we are uncontestable. Force is how the world is run and we are blessed to have our strength. To wallow in misery and setbacks is suicide. It's all just another obstacle to jump over. Tell me, are you really going to let yourself die by people who can't even hurt you?"

  The underlings mutter to themselves.

  "But how are we going to bounce back from this? What do you mean by 'force' exactly?" Asks Kasumi.

  "It's exactly what you think it means. It's not the ideal way but, in order to survive, we must take everything that we need no matter the costs. At the very least, hunt your own food, sell whatever you don't need, and what not."

  "And if it's not enough?" Asks Robert. "I have a wife and child to feed. I don't have time to hunt for whatever's in the forest."

  "(I thought he had two kids?)" Thinks Kasumi to himself.

  "And that is what pains me," responds Kito. "We have to make sacrifices in order to run this campaign. As much as I'm doing this to support our people, the path of good intentions is paved with bad actions. What I'm saying is that if needed, whatever obstacle is in our way, say... a lack of food, it unfortuantely means we have to steal. Granted, every grocery store is insured. And besides, we'll pay them back once we win the election. But for now, we have to do what we must in order to survive. Same thing goes for money; same thing goes for every aspect in life. It pains me to hurt our neighbors but, every good person has to do something bad... And we just have to live with that."

  Bara looks at Kito earnestly and nods his head. Daiki looks at the ground. Kasumi stares at Kito and knows what he has to do.

  "On the bright side however," continues Kito, "this serves as the perfect opportunity to harm our enemies. Whoever is against us, say, either the government or any idiot on the street, targeting them would not only be the best course of action, but the preferred one. Typically, a good healthy competition is a virtue. But the fire is under us, and i'm not going to let them cook us alive. It's no longer competition; it's war. The only reason I'm not running around killing everyone is because people would suspect something very wrong and distrust us. Not only that, but the initial reason is to avoid the government. But now that they're on us, it all depends on whether they think we're weak enough to still send kids after us, or if they start sending in the adult agents. I can handle myself, but as strong as you all are, I'm still worried for you. So for now, we're just going to have to work guerrilia style and do the best we can while under the radar. Pillage and reap while undetected."

  "Understood." Says Bara, Daiki, and Kasumi in unison.

  Robert doesn't say anything on the other line.

  "Well that's for survival. What are we going to do about the money for the campaign?"

  Kito ponders for a bit before responding. "The government has all of our money on lockdown..." He then snaps his fingers. "But thankfully, we have a new member. Bara, Kasumi: nobody followed you two earlier today when you met Tatsuki for the first time or when you went to pick him up right?"

  "No, sir." Says Bara; "No." Says Kasumi. "Actually," continues Kasumi. "Call it a hunch but something tells me he was about to buy more beer when he left."

  Bara scrunches his nose. Kito blinks before commenting, "he went drinking?"

  "Yes." Says Kasumi.

  Kito blows air out of his nose. "That's funny. How typical. Anyway, continue."

  "On top of that," continues Kasumi. "If he needs to refill his hours at the cafe to sleep, he would obviously need his card to work. As cheap as a manga cafe is, sleeping there for... who knows how long warrants a decent amount of money. I suppose we'll have to check up on him tomorrow morning to see if his bank account got locked or not."

  Kito nods. "Alright. It'd be best to get him anyway just to start his training. We'll also take his money as a means of temporary support. But one person's sallary only goes so far... I suppose I could do a couple errands at banks so, I'll get to that very soon..."

  "Alright." Says Robert. "Is there anything else you need?"

  "I think that's all for now. We'll see how things escalate in the morning but, you all seem to understand what needs to be done. Goodnight, Robert."

  Robert hangs up.

  Everyone sighs. Despite the circumstances, their moods seem uplifted compared to their panicked state ten minutes ago.

  "Say, Kito." Says Kasumi. "Now that you're homeless, where are you going to live? I have a couch you can-"

  "You can stay at my place." Quickly interjects Bara. "I have an extra futon you can sleep on if you'd like.. It used to be mine but, comparing my size to yours, it's extra spacious."

  Kito softly chuckles. "Thank you boys, thank you. I appreciate it; I really do. But, I want to make the most of this situation and turn this opportunity as means of... getting back to my roots, so to speak."

  "What do you mean?" Asks Daiki.

  "Well, as you all know, in my time of training I used to live in the wilderness. It really toughened me up. As great as it was to have a warm, comfortable apartment, it's about time I really get back to strengthening myself. Besides, it'll be a lot harder for the Ordinance Academy to find me up in the wilderness compared to the city and all of its cameras."

  "So does that mean you're not going to make anymore public appearances?" Asks Bara.

  "Pahaha! The difference is that I'll be awake when I'm out in public. Defending yourself when you're sleeping is hard, so I won't make it easy for them to find me... Not that killing me in my sleep would work to begin with." Chuckles Kito. "As for the sorcerers themselves, we really need to train harder. Who knows who or what they're going to try to throw at us next."

  With absolute conviction, Kasumi, Bara, and Daiki all stare at Kito and declare: "I will be the strongest, no matter what it takes."

  "Good." Says Kito. "Alright, I think that's all that needs to be said. We'll figure out the rest tomorrow. Daiki, since you don't have a phone, call my number right after you're done with work. Kasumi, give me the address for where Tatsuki is residing. I'll handle the rest. If you need me, I'll be somewhere in the lower region of the mountains."

  Bara thinks twice of saying something, before commenting: "Alright Kito. If you need anything just let me know. Stay safe."

  Kito chuckles before waving him off. "Stay safe? Do you know who you're talking to?"

  Bara smiles. The three underlings head off to their own homes. Kito stays behind and examines the news. Every channel is talking about the gas explosion and the burning man still conscious after surviving the ball of fire. He chuckles to himself. "Plenty of good impressions so far." He then checks the predictions for the most popular candidates within the mayoral race. His smile melts into a stern look. His ratings have gone up by a decent margin, yet there are still plenty of candidates beating him. He beat the smaller, irrelevant candidates with the earlier assassination-attempt-turned-opportunity. Yet the numbers, though not concrete, don't lie. 16 votes ahead. 89 votes ahead. 214 votes ahead. And these are just counting those who participated in the prediction votes. He searches through the web for his name. Most people are talking about the explosion earlier that day. Yet, he finds an odd forum discussing him in high praises. The way these people talk were immature. Kito raises his eyebrow, before turning off his phone, and leaving the harbor.

  .

  .

  .

  After a brisk fifteen minute jog, Kito arrives all the way to the base of a mountain. Climbing up the small mountain, the dew rises up. Heavy fog clouds vision; everything becomes a blur past three feet. Coupled with the night time, everything is pitch black. Each step is heavy, marshy and wet. Despite the melting snow, plenty amount of water still makes the surrounding area overwhelmingly humid. A herd of deer sense an ogre trudging along miles away. The owls bear witness to a new predator. A bear sees Kito walking in a straight line; the only thing standing between the bear and Kito is a single tree.

  Kito makes a flat edge with his hand and chops the tree down in one heavy strike. Splinters fly everywhere, and the loud thunderous crack of the tree echoes throughout the mountain. Kito stares eye to eye with the bear.

  The bear scampers away.

  About 2/3rds of the way up the mountain, Kito finds a flat, comfortable space. He takes off his shirt, socks and shoes. He jumps up a branch and does a couple thousand pull ups; each set in different variations: standard pull ups, chin ups, wide grips, muscle ups, so on and so forth. He then takes a brisk walk for fifteen minutes and chops down trees with kicks. He gets bored after seven minutes and goes back to his resting area. On the way there he finds a snake on the ground. He picks it up and bites down on the snake's skull, instantly killing it. The muscles spasm and wriggle, before he continues taking large bites of the reptile, skin, muscle, bone and all. Laying down, he lazily makes a makeshift cot out of leaves. He then finds a stone, crushes the stone with both hands, compacting it until it's nothing more than dust. He spreads the dust on the ground and makes a dip in the center, so that his head fits and uses the dust as a pillow. Munching down on his his reptilian snack, Kito sees a small, skinny, shivering cat within his midst.

  "Ohoh! A kitty!" He says to himself.

  The cat, scared beyond belief, tenses up. Kito gently crawls on the ground and offers shows the bleeding serpent to the cat. The cat, starving, and smelling the rich blood, timidly walks over and licks the open wound of the thrashed snake. Kito picks up the cat and walks back to his bed.

  "You can have the rest; I lost my appetite." Says Kito, caressing the cat. He gently pokes at the cat, chuckling. "I'm going to eat you one day! But, for now, I don't mind the companionship."

  He hugs the cat. both provide warmth for each other throughout the night.

  .

  .

  .

  Kasumi arrives at the doorstep of his house. He looks at the ground.

  Thank you, Kito. I can't be absolved of all of my crimes. But you understand what it means to survive. That is life. And that's why you're my leader.

  He opens the door, opens his door, and closes it behind him. He doesn't look back.