The bar no longer makes noise.
No one drinks.
No one speaks.
Kuro drops into the chair beside Akuma, as if he hadn’t almost slit his throat moments ago.
He rests his elbow on the table.
— The old Dragunov is dead.
Uta kept everything…
and has decided to turn into an NGO.
Strange silence.
— The elder Krov won’t accept it.
Gouma will see us as weak.
He’ll come crush us.
War. Chaos. Blood. Blah blah blah.
Akuma narrows his eyes.
He thinks.
Thinks harder.
Imaginary smoke comes out of his head.
— …I don’t get it.
Yūrei sighs.
He rubs the bridge of his nose.
— Version for people who use their fists before their brain:
They stopped being mafia to help the people.
The old Krov want to kill them.
Gouma too.
They’re alone.
They want us to join them.
Akuma leans back.
He laughs.
— That Uta guy is crazy.
He declared war on all of Fangdrift.
Kuro smiles.
— Yeah.
All for a stupid dream.
Yūrei stares at Kuro.
— And what do you get out of this?
Your reputation says you’re… the opposite of a hero.
Kuro doesn’t smile this time.
He looks at him directly.
Calm.
— You know what it’s like to not have a home, right?
And for one person…
to become that place.
Where you can be yourself.
Yūrei opens his eyes.
He understands it too well.
Akuma takes a long drink.
He wipes his mouth with the back of his hand.
— And what do I get?
I’m happy burning things.
Robbing the Krov.
And the idiots who cross the border.
The chair screeches against the floor.
Kuro stands up as if the conversation had ended a long time ago.
He stretches his shoulders.
— You’re a fraud.
The whole bar tenses.
— You act like a tough guy…
but you’re not.
No mockery.
No laughter.
He says it calmly.
Like pointing out that it’s raining.
Akuma stays still.
The vein on his temple throbs.
Kuro walks toward the exit.
He passes by Yūrei.
Stops for half a second.
Without even looking at him.
— I trust you.
A small crooked smile.
He keeps walking.
Akuma jumps up, the chair flying backward.
— I’M NOT A FRAUD!
The floor creaks under his step.
The Angels hold their breath.
— I’m the biggest bastard of all bastards!
And I’ll kill you next time I see you, damn wolf!
Kuro is already at the door.
He doesn’t turn around.
He just raises a hand in farewell.
He laughs.
— Sure you will, champ.
And he disappears into the night as if he had never been there.
The bar falls silent.
Akuma breathes heavily.
The river reflects the moon like a silver scar.
The Angels of Death keep laughing inside the bar, bottles clinking, loud voices… but outside there is only water and silence.
Yūrei stands, hands in his pockets, watching the current.
Akuma walks out.
He drops down beside him, sitting on the ground, back against the cold metal of the old crane.
He lights a cigarette with the tip of his finger.
The ember is born red.
— Do you remember why we’re here? — Yūrei says, without looking at him.
Akuma exhales smoke toward the moon.
Silence.
The past opens the door.
8 years ago
A child runs.
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Barefoot.
Dirty clothes.
A bag of meat pressed against his chest.
— HEY! THIEF! MY LUNCH! — shouts a Krov soldier in a spotless uniform.
Akuma, 10 years old, slips into an alley.
The soldier turns the corner—
— THUMP.
A tight rope.
The Krov flies face-first to the ground.
Akuma doesn’t look back.
He reaches a ruined house.
Sasuke is there.
Taller.
Same eyes.
Same wild smile.
— The plan worked perfectly.
They bump fists.
They laugh.
Children celebrating survival.
Then—
A scream.
Blows.
A man kicks someone on the ground.
A child.
Thin.
Covering his head.
Yūrei.
Sasuke steps forward.
— Wait here.
He walks straight toward the man.
Without fear.
The man turns, furious—
And suddenly his face twists in terror.
— A SPIDER! A GIANT SPIDER!
He runs off, stumbling, screaming.
Sasuke brings a hand to his head.
— Aaa… it hurts…
Akuma runs to him.
— Big brother, are you okay?!
— Yeah, yeah…
Sasuke smiles.
Then he looks at the boy on the ground.
Yūrei trembles.
Huge eyes.
Silence.
Sasuke kneels.
Offers his hand.
Soft voice.
— It’s okay. You’re safe now.
He smiles as if the world weren’t a mess.
— Come with us.
Back to the present
The cigarette burns down.
Akuma speaks without taking his eyes off the sky.
— He always saved us.
Silence.
Yūrei lowers his gaze to the water.
The moon trembles in the current.
— And now we save the rest.
The river wind blows cold.
The ember of the cigarette lights Akuma’s face from below.
Hard shadows. Faded red eyes.
— We’re not heroes.
Yūrei nods slowly.
— I know…
But Uta’s plan… is exactly what Sasuke would have wanted.
CLANG
Akuma’s fist slams into the crane.
The metal vibrates like a muffled thunder.
— DON’T MENTION HIM!
He breathes heavily.
— My brother died saving kids from an attack by those bastards.
And now you want me to work for them? Seriously?
The river keeps flowing. Indifferent.
Yūrei doesn’t raise his voice.
— Then what do we do?
Stay here… burning things… pretending that changes anything?
Akuma clenches his teeth.
Yūrei continues.
— My father killed my mother.
He beat me until Sasuke appeared.
He created the Angels of Death to protect small villages.
He never cared who we fought…
or what we gained… or what we lost…
He looks at Akuma.
— He just wanted us to be free.
Silence.
Akuma stands abruptly.
— Why are you messing with my head, huh?
He’s about to leave.
Yūrei speaks, lower.
But firmer.
— I promised Sasuke I would protect you with my life.
Akuma stops.
He doesn’t turn around.
The cigarette smoke trembles.
— You have potential for much more…
Not to be some small-town thug.
The wind moves the water.
Akuma lowers his head.
— Sorry, Yūrei…
I don’t want to talk anymore today.
He leaves.
Yūrei remains alone.
The moon reflected in the river looks broken.
The bedroom door closes.
Silence.
Akuma takes off his black jacket.
The thick gold chains fall onto the table with a heavy sound.
He’s left only in a tank top.
He opens the bedside drawer.
Inside there are only a few things.
An old knife.
A lighter.
And a metal cross on a thin chain.
He takes it carefully.
He doesn’t look like someone who believes in gods.
But he holds it as if he were holding memory.
He lies down on the bed.
The cross on his chest.
He closes his eyes.
And the past returns.
Flashback – 5 years ago
A rooftop.
The city below looks like a dirty map.
Sasuke, 15 years old.
Taller.
Hair longer than Akuma’s.
Same smile… but calmer.
Akuma, 13.
Sitting on the edge, legs dangling.
Yūrei, purple hair already long, watching the streets as if studying a chessboard.
Sasuke points at the city.
— Fangdrift works like this…
He points at a lit-up area.
— The Krov: elegant mafia.
Money. Suits. Classy extortion.
They control with fear… but with rules.
He points at a darker area.
— The Akaryuu are worse.
People with nothing to lose.
Drugs. Killing just to kill.
Cannibalism.
They believe anyone can kill… so you must be the cruelest.
Yūrei speaks softly.
— The cruelest of all… Gouma.
Akuma swallows.
— He scares me.
Sasuke smiles.
— And thanks to that fear, the Krov don’t declare war on them.
Yūrei tilts his head.
— And where are you going with all this?
Sasuke looks at the horizon.
Determined eyes.
— We’ll do the same… but different.
Loot the Krov.
Rob rich tourists.
Beat criminal gangs.
We’ll be seen as monsters…
He turns toward them.
— So no one touches these villages.
We’ll create a free zone.
Akuma grins widely.
He bumps fists with him.
— You’re a genius, big brother!
And whoever comes after us… we’ll fight!
Sasuke laughs.
— We need a cool name.
Akuma grabs his head.
— My brain is burning…
Yūrei speaks shyly.
— We could be… The Angels.
Because we want to protect.
Sasuke looks at him.
— You do understand the “scary” part, right?
Akuma suddenly jumps.
— I’VE GOT IT!
THE ANGELS OF DEATH!
Silence.
Sasuke looks at him.
Yūrei looks at him.
Both start laughing.
— What an exaggerated name…
— Sounds like a cheap gang…
Akuma crosses his arms.
— Well, when they fear us… they won’t laugh.
Present
Akuma opens his eyes.
The room is dark.
The cross still rests on his chest.
His eyes glow faintly red.
He whispers to the ceiling.
— I’m still fighting, big brother…
The river keeps flowing.
Yūrei remains alone.
He closes his eyes.
The moon lights his pale face.
— Sasuke…
What happened that day wasn’t an illusion, right?
The water reflects the light as if trembling.
— A lot of people are migrating north…
Things are getting worse…
Akuma is getting more and more lost in his anger…
He clenches his fists inside his pockets.
— I don’t know what to do anymore.
He opens his eyes.
He looks at the reflection in the water.
For a moment…
A silhouette behind him.
Longer hair.
Calm smile.
Sasuke.
The memory pulls him under.
Flashback – 5 years ago
The same rooftop.
The night younger.
Sasuke watches Yūrei in silence.
— You’re very serious.
Yūrei lowers his gaze.
— I saw my father again today…
And I’m still scared of him.
Silence.
The wind moves Sasuke’s long hair.
— If it helps…
Akuma and I were born in Akaryuu territory.
Yūrei looks at him, surprised.
Sasuke continues, without drama.
— Our mother was an escort.
She lived on the street.
Because she didn’t want to take care of us.
Our father… no idea.
He shrugs.
— I was scared to go outside.
But if I hadn’t… Akuma and I would’ve died.
Yūrei whispers:
— And what did you do?
Sasuke barely smiles.
— I faced the fear.
I grabbed five-year-old Akuma…
and left.
Silence.
The city below roars in the distance.
— Doesn’t it worry you not having family? — Yūrei asks.
Sasuke looks at him directly.
Without hesitation.
— I do have one.
He points at Yūrei.
— You.
He points down where Akuma is yelling something from the street.
— And him.
He extends his fist.
— That’s enough family.
Yūrei hesitates for a second…
Then bumps fists.
Present
The reflection in the water disappears.
Only the moon remains.
Yūrei whispers:
— Then…
I won’t let what you created break.
