Prologue; Companionship In Death

'Another week's worth of survival, huh?' A youth covered from head to toe in dirt, oil, and stains, a rather scrappy appearance to venture with, walked alongside the concrete sidewalk. In his hands he held a check, the only thing aside from his hobbies which could put a smug smile on his face. The direction he was walking in was none other than the bank.

Most people would go home and wash up after work, then go cash their check in later. The youth, being as impatient as always, had different ideas however. Growing up as an orphan made him realize that there was a lot more to life than paying attention to others' perspectives about how he lived, and that he should live every moment to its fullest potential.

Ignoring the myriad of gazes, some of concern and others disdain, he walked down the bustling street whilst listening to music. As he walked, he kept thinking about going home, playing some computer games, and thought deeply about ordering a Hot-N-Ready Pizza, only to have looked up and realized that he had already arrived at the bank. Pocketing his earbuds, he opened the door and entered, expecting the bank to be like any other week when he cashed his check, only to find—

"Hands up, no one is allowed to leave!"

A gun was pointed directly at his chest, held by a man with a scrawny-build whose face was covered by a cliché-looking mask that one expected of a robber, a balaclava.

Knowing it wasn't the time for jokes, the youth holding his check immediately complied as he pushed such thoughts to the back of his mind.

'Damn, I'm only trying to cash my check. I understand the premise of "wrong place at the wrong time," but this is just ridiculous!' The youth fumed in distress, as he walked in a trembling manner over to the wall where another robber, this one with a brawny physique, silently forced everyone to line up.

While the youth has always joked about having another weeks' worth of survival relying on his current pay, he had never felt the fear of being so close to the lingering aura of death.

To the right of the youth were a couple who appeared to be in their prime, around their late-twenties to early-thirties. Held protectively in between them was a young boy, seemingly seven to eight years old, with a face covered in snot and tears as he clung tightly to his parents.

'To think, those people are actually causing such a scene in front of a child no less! Do they not understand the pain that they cause? That they might scar an innocent child for life because of their selfishness?' Angered by the robbers who were shouting and armed with guns, the youth's blood slowly boiled; he gradually lost sense of the fear that had tried to root itself inside him.

Just like anyone else, the youth feared death. His beliefs in life were centered around the idea of living a life of happiness whilst not hurting others. He knew pain: growing up without any parents, without the slightest trace of empathetic support, and his survival based on working heavy-labor jobs. Yet, he put up with everything! With the constant burden of work and desolation that overshadowed his life.

With each check he saved the extra bits of money, later purchasing a rather clumsy and used laptop to play some games, watch anime, and listen to music, opening up to an entirely different world than his own reality, a world which gave him a glimpse of what he desired. And so he continued to live his seclusive life with his emotions and desires burrowed deep inside of him, corked like a ship in a bottle.

Yet now, the cork had popped, and accompanied by the brewing of a storm, the ship had found its chance to set sail! All of the emotions he had suppressed for so long had started to awaken.

The feeling of sorrow fueled his loneliness. The feeling of loneliness fueled his powerlessness. And the feeling of powerlessness fueled his wrath, which continued to grow with visible irritation on his temple.

"Hey! Banker! Give us all the money right now before we start taking lives!" A cynical-sounding man with a rather built-up muscular frame spoke, his command revealing him to be the leader of the other two.

"Boss, we better make this quick! I hear sirens off in the distance! We better start getting hostages ready and show everyone we're not playing around here!" The scrawny-built man clamored as traces of panic surfaced on his face.

"Uh-huh, most of the people here are middle-aged, so they're not of much use in our plan… Oh! Grab that kid over there, his parents too! That's the best way to deal with the authorities: pull an innocent family into the equation and the authorities won't dare to try anything funny with all the media coverage scouring over their heads like vultures."

With a sharp glare passing through his eyes as he looked over the hostages, the leader spat venomously as he ordered the man with the brawny physique to grab the selected hostages.

"Hehe, Boss, what about that dirty-looking youth? He'd be quite useful as bait! Just think, we can dress him up as one of us and use him later to further help with our escape." The scrawny man mused as he glanced at the pitiful youth who entered the bank at the worst possible time.

'Damn! In what life could I have possibly offended you? I entered the bank at the worst possible time, luckily have no use as a hostage with my "scrappy" appearance, but then end up as a "member" of their trio!? Forget it! At least I'll be close to the kid, so I can help him nonetheless if need be.' The youth grumbled with no choice but to agree as he walked alongside the brawny man, still holding his check in his right hand.

The "check" was now crumpled and soaked in sweat with most words incomprehensible, had the youth taken a glance at it, he would realize it was probably void by this point.

Outside, the sound of sirens gradually intensified as police vehicles closed in on the scene, yet the people didn't hear the sirens. Instead of feeling relief from their saviors' arrival, they were accompanied by a sound worse than silence in their fear of death; their spiking anxiety caused their ears to pop, a ringing noise muffling their hearing.

Those still in line clutched the wall with trembling, sweat-soaked palms to hold themselves up after they lost support of their clamming legs in panic. Others looked down at the floor, their eyes constantly darting back-and-forth in panic.

The youth, finding no sense of comfort from their reactions, looked away from them. More specifically, he looked towards the young child with a melancholic gaze and a bitter smile.

'I'm definitely not the most noble person, but if push comes to shove, I'll do everything in my power so this child doesn't experience the same fate as me. I won't let him live a life of solitude as an orphan, I'll make sure of that!'

"Plans changed, we can't be passive with the hostages now! I thought we'd have a bit more time, even the slightest addition of time, but the authorities showed up too damn quickly! Did one of the bankers set the panic alarm? HUH? DID ONE OF THEM SET IT OFF? FUCK!"

The leader of the trio failed to hide his frustration, as he burst into anger with gritted teeth and veins popping out on his neck, his ragged breathing like a vicious beast, painting a horrific image that would send chills down the spines of all who saw.

Behind the counter, an older woman collapsed in fear, falling unconscious and thankfully avoiding the man's anger.

"Bo-boss, it's o-okay! We'll handle it, we still have the hostages after all! Everything will be al-alright!" The scrawny man stuttered as he mustered what little optimism he could, desperately pleading in fear of his boss' current condition.

Watching the scene, the brawny man who held the family of three and the youth shook in fear, painting a contrasting situation for anyone who saw what was going on. A flash of resolve passed through his eyes as he finally spoke for the first time since they were robbing the bank, 'Boss… I can't go on with this. I thought this would be a simple robbery, we'd get the money and leave. But now… it seems like people will get hurt... I can't continue with this…"

*Bang* *Bang* *Bang*

Three gunshots followed his words, resulting in the brawny man collapsing, eyes wide-open, flashing with disbelief and sorrow as he looked towards his boss who, in his hands, held a small pistol.

The couple covered the child's eyes as they screamed in horror, while the youth watched in shock from beside them, his mouth agape stunned at the current change of events.

His emotions were complex, he had already planned on doing everything he could to protect the child and couple should the event come down to it, but never did he expect that one of the robbers would try to intervene and calm the leading robber down.

'How am I supposed to feel? Is it wrong that I don't feel any hatred towards that man? I feel pity for such a person! And from the beginning he took a quiet stance, as if he didn't want to take part in the crime or put anyone in danger.' The youth questioned himself.

"Boss! What the hell! We both know he was right, the three of us never planned on harming anyone when we came up with our plan. We've been following you for so long, yet you actually killed him just like that?" The scrawny man spoke furiously, fiery tears flowing down his face, not expecting today's events to turn out like they had.

"Heh? Plan? What plan!? Look at our situation—it's fucking over! We've run into a dead end, can't you see that? The authorities are here, we haven't even seen a single coin yet, let alone the money we were here for! Dammit all! What use are any of the hostages at this point? The three of us… with all of our robberies, we're going away for life. There's no future for us, so I did him a favor."

The leader howled hysterically, tears in his eyes accompanied by a sarcastic smile crazed in madness. He aimed the pistol in his hand at the couple, proceeding down the narrow path of no return.

With a quick glance at the child and couple in front of the gun, the youth firmly made up his mind. "You bastard! You've already gone too far!" Running in front of the man's line of fire, the youth dove, but at the same time—

*Bang* *Bang* *Bang*

Three gunshots fired off, one hitting the youth's chest, more specifically, the pulmonary artery. The other shot hit the ground as the youth's flailing body tackled the boss, barely missing the child and couple.

And the last shot surprisingly came from the scrawny man, who shot his boss in the right arm which held the pistol, preventing a sixth shot from firing.

With those shots, the authorities outside no longer considered the option to try and negotiate with the criminals, as they transitioned into their secondary plan of storming the building.

Amidst the storm of events, the boss roared indignantly, seeking his death over being locked away.

Oblivious to the situation, be it the hysteric screams or the incoming authorities who rushed in to save the hostages, the youth lay on the ground as a puddle of blood accumulated around him and an icy coldness assaulted his body, 'In the end, I managed to protect the kid, huh? Looks like I did something useful in my 18 years of life for once.'

His vision slowly blurred as he took one last glance at the child and couple who stared at him with pained expressions as they approached him and knelt down, crying, 'Well, this is the most emotion anyone has ever offered me up until today, huh? At the very least, I have people who will accompany me until my death. Even if only for these last moments, I won't be alone. The only regret I have is that I didn't get to experience such companionship in life.'

The youth smiled painfully and it was only on his last breath that his palm opened, releasing his check with only the spot for the name still legible, reading: Rentaro Eccel.