CHAPTER 14

Chapter 14

Gosei's POV

It's been two months.

Still no progress.

Naoki sits in that bed like a ghost with a pulse. My sister remains in a coma, and every beep from her life support machine feels like a reminder that time is slipping through my fingers. I’ve moved them far away from that rotten city—the place where evil thrived behind the masks of power and wealth. A place where children commit atrocities and walk free.

We’re in a town so far removed from that nightmare it feels like another world. But peace is just a mask. Behind it, I’m unraveling.

I moved my wife and kids too. Close to the hospital, close to Naoki. Every day I pray for a sign. A twitch of recognition. A word. Even a blink.

Nothing.

I reach out to every comrade I used to trust. Some from the battlefield. Some from the shadows. But the answer is always the same:

"Don't."

"You don’t know who you’re dealing with."

"They’re kids in name only. Demons in disguise."

And then one of them... broke.

"They’ll wipe your whole family out if you go against them, Gosei. Walk away while you can."

I felt helpless.

I didn’t want vengeance for me. I wanted peace for Naoki. For my sister. For my family.

And that’s when I remembered him.

Mash.

Old friend. Old soldier. A man saved by my hands during a mission gone wrong. A man who disappeared into the underworld.

I knew he had ties to the dark web. Information flowed to him like blood through veins.

I sent a message through encrypted lines.

“Need intel on powerful minors. Blacklisted. Protected. Urgent.”

He responded within minutes.

“Meet me. You know where.”


---

The club pulsed with light and music. A haze of smoke and sweat filled the room. Middle-aged men and women danced and laughed around us, but my eyes were focused on the shadowed corner.

There he was. Mash. Scar still there. Older. Eyes sharper.

He waved me over to the table.

"Yo, Gosei. Damn, life after war looks good on you."

I gave him a tight smile. "Peaceful. Until now."

He nodded knowingly. "Ain’t it always?"

"I need information. About a group of twelve kids. Rich. Dangerous."

He didn't ask why. Just slid an envelope across the table.

"Everything I could dig up. Names. Photos. Routines."

"Thanks, Mash. You’re the only one who didn’t shut the door."

"No problem, bro. We got history."

I picked up the envelope and opened it.

Nothing.

Just blank paper.

"What the hell—"

A damp cloth smothered my face.

The world spun.

And then, blackness.


---

I woke up tied to a chair. My head throbbed. My limbs ached.

My vision cleared—and my soul shattered.

Three figures in front of me.

Bags over their heads.

But I knew. I knew.

Mash stood nearby, holding a knife. Cold. Mechanical.

"Oh, you’re awake. Good timing."

He approached the first figure and yanked the sack away.

My wife.

Tears streamed down her face.

Then the next.

My daughter.

And the last.

My son.

“Mash...” My voice broke. “What the hell are you doing?”

He crouched in front of me.

"Let this be a lesson. I told you not to dig."

“I trusted you!”

“And I’m saving your life. You think you’re the only one watching them? They watch you. They saw you ask questions. You were marked the moment you reached out. But me? I still have leverage."

He pointed the knife at my chest.

"I’m going to let you go. Because of what we had. But understand this—"

He turned the blade to my wife’s neck.

"—you push again, and I won’t be able to protect you. Not even for old time’s sake."

He cut the ropes.

"Leave. Forget. Live."

We ran.

My wife collapsed into tears. My kids screamed in terror. And me...

I died inside.

That night, I sat beside Naoki’s bed.

His eyes open. Blank. Always staring.

“Naoki...” I whispered, choking back tears. “I tried. I really tried.”

I held his hand. It was cold.

“I’m sorry, kid. I can’t fight them. Not now. Not like this.”

“I have to protect my kids. Your cousins. Your aunt. They’re all I have left.”

“I hope someday you wake up and forgive me.”

Silence.

Only the monitor’s beeping replied.

That night, I made a decision.

No more revenge.

Just healing.

Just survival.



To be continued...

Chapter end