Extra Chapter: The Black Feline of Misfortune

During their long era of existence, humans have addressed the convenient things they have faced using a word that is wrapped in a kind of mystical identity they called as Luck.

"Hey, wake up."

"Oh. Charon-san…?"

"You're being called by someone. A Highschool girl in Old Tokyo Academy."

"Oh… yeah. I understand."

However, if there is luck that people desire greatly, there is also the opposite which they desire to not receive if possible, which is misfortune.

My name is… like everyone who accepted this new life and purpose, no longer matters. Unlike some of us whose names did matter before, mine never did even when I was still alive. Still, it wouldn't be so wrong to look back sometimes so I can remember the time when all of my bottled up anger, frustration and curses for this world, poured out to the point that only death became my salvation.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

My story began 15 years ago during the rise of the Miyazono Corporation who later bought the rights to run all of the public schools and a majority of private schools in Japan following the threat of collapse of the government.

"I'll be off… well, not like there's anyone who'll greet me off."

At that time, I was living by myself in a two-room apartment near Miyazono New Tokyo Academy. As for the reason why, let's just say that I wasn't born to the most loyal couple and when their double lives were exposed, went their separate ways.

"We're still closed- Oh… It's you."

"Y-yeah… Good morning, Ann-san."

"Ann, huh? Well, Judy can also work, but if that's how you'll call me, just go on."

Because my parents split up and never thought about looking back again to at least give their child a decent life, I was forced to find work and found it in this sort-of discrete bar in the heart of the neo-city.

Verified Amusement area number 11 in the third Hall of A-Avenue. This is how discrete the place is. It doesn't even have a good name, so its signboard only displays an acronym of its official address.

"Is boss in?"

"Nn, nn. Charon-san left last night. Said that he needs to meet up with some business partners. He did tell me that you might pass by, so he made me prepare this for you."

"Ah… Thanks, Ann-san."

After placing her cigarette at an ash tray, Ann-san handed me an envelope that has my salary that I requested to be given in advance. With the bill for apartment rent and amenities coming soon, I needed to ask them for it.

"Sure, sure. Go on, don't be late for your school day. If you arrive there late, you'll also come here late and as you know, those plates and glasses won't be washing themselves."

"Mm! See you again later, Ann-san. Don't smoke too much."

"Fuu… That brat, really…"

I went straight to school where I was spending my time in to just receive my ACES certificate. Unlike those in the lower sections and some foreign students in this school, pure-blooded locals like me just receive training on our desired jobs and are tested in several situations before being left to ourselves for the rest of the school term.

"…"

I'm not blind or dumb though to not notice the obvious discriminatory system of this school… but no matter how much I pity the students in the lower sections or those who were forced to study here in order to find work outside of their home countries, that is just that.

They were unlucky.

"No! Please, stop already!"

"You think it's alright for you to make moves on my boyfriend, you skank?!"

"Ahh!"

"You think lower-section scum like you can approach our kind?! Get real, bitch!"

"Ack!"

"…Don't think about it… just walk away…"

They are just unlucky… all of them.

"Hey man, we're friends, aren't we?"

"A-Ahh…"

"Come on, friends share their stuff, don't they?"

"B-But… this… This is all that I have to eat today and-"

"Argh! Quit mumbling nonsense and just give it to us! We ain't even asking you!"

"Oh yeah! Ko-kun is right! Get his lunch!"

"W-Wait! N-No!"

"Piss off, beggar!"

"Ahh!"

"…Don't look at them… just pretend you didn't see it."

They are just unlucky… all of them.

"Hyahaha! Tie him up, boys!"

"Kyaa! Take a picture, girl! Take a picture!"

"That's so hilarious!"

"Alright, Ko-kun! Pull up this loser so everyone can see his bitsy wiener!"

"No… Just look away… just look away from them!"

They are just unlucky-

"No… No, they are not."

Who the hell am I lying to? Myself?

They are not unlucky. None of them are.

"Hey, kid. You alright?"

"Ah… Ann-san."

"Want some drink after you finish there…?"

"…Yes, please."

Why do I keep on lying and convincing myself that there is nothing wrong with what the other students in my level are doing? Why am I doing this?

"Pineapple Cinderella. Non-alcoholic, of course."

"Thank you, Ann-san…"

"That's 500 yen off your paycheck, by the way."

"Haha… you really heed Charon-san's strict "pay upfront" policy, huh?"

"Hey, I'm not the employee of the month for nothing. You can mope in there all you want. It seems like tonight is a slow day for us."

Why am I doing nothing? Was I so powerless? Was I so lacking in something that I can do nothing?

Maybe I am… but what I lack isn't strength or courage.

"Ann-san… can I ask you something?"

"Sure. Just let me light this one up…"

"Judy. A refill, please."

"Oh. I'll listen while I am tending to this order. Go ahead and talk, kid."

"…How can you win against a system that is so tilted against you?"

"…"

"I… I can't take it anymore. In my school, those in the lower sections keep on getting beaten up, extorted and shamed by those in my level… I just got in through sheer luck and my status as a local… but them… I've convinced myself that they are just unlucky… but I can't do this anymore."

"Kid… Listen to me."

I raised my face to look at Ann-san who is shaking a refill drink for the customer nearby. She has a lit cigarette on her mouth while her hands are vigorously shaking the drink shaker.

"You see, not everyone has the opportunity to study in that big school of yours. As a student there, you are more knowledgeable about it than me… but still, I will say this as someone who cannot easily pursue education as a half-blooded Japanese."

"…"

"If corporate jobs are shit, schools that only teach you just so you can go into those corporate jobs are lower than shit… Sir, your refill."

"Thanks, Judy. Put it on my receipt for later."

"Understood, sir."

After pouring out the drink of a customer, she returned to her seat inside the counter where she huffed out some of smoke away from me.

"What… do you mean, Ann-san?"

"I'm just telling you why I ended up in here, working at the bar of Charon-san."

"…"

"I used to like the pay and benefits of corporate work. But I soon became aware that the school life I have to endure which has fake feelings and smiles I have to put on for the sake of the pride of those above my level, the beatings and stripping of dignity that I have to get used to while in there… and later on, it will only lead to pointless and useless work that only enriches the company I will be working for…"

She blew out another cloud of smoke after speaking.

"That's the reason why I immediately accepted the old man's offer to make me a bartender here. The pay and benefits aren't as good, but at least I can do something that won't be too much of a pain in the ass."

"…"

"In short, I am telling you to gather your balls and stand up against them… or just grit your teeth and give up."

"Ann-san…"

"Everything is tilted against someone nowadays, kid… And no matter how much we whine or protest or even rebel against it, those high up are as untouchable as gods. They won't listen to us because if they do change the system they put up, everything else will follow later. One solved problem is all that's needed to expose that we can actually do something to ease up our lives."

"…"

"As a student there who only got in through luck, you really don't hold anything to your name. You're no child of a rich or influential person, you're not an heir of some kind of company, nor are you one of those well-known "Silver Fund children" of the Miyazono corporation."

"…"

"For your own sake, I believe that you should just finish things up and leave that place. Swallow your sense of conscience and pity and go on with your life… but such life filled with regrets isn't good."

"H-huh? Wait, that's my-"

She took my glass which I have only drank half-way and knocked it back in one gulp.

"If ever you do raise your concern and they come after you, you can rest easy that I and Charon-san will be here to support you enough to have a decent life."

"…"

Ann-san is right. What am I afraid of if I am in the right?

"Haaah…? The hell ya talkin about, man?"

"Yeah, yeah. Why are you making it sound like we're the bad guys in here?"

"Because you guys are."

The next day, I walked to the teacher's podium and told them to stop messing around with the students under our section level. But instead of ashamed expressions, it seems like they don't even recognize their actions and misdeeds as wrong.

"For heck's sake! You tied up a foreign student naked on the athletic grounds and beaten up a girl who didn't even wanted to be hit on by your playboy boyfriend! Get a clue, you morons!"

"And what's wrong with that?"

"-!"

"No one's complainin' right? We're paying our tuition, so not even the teachers said anything when they lowered that yee-yee foreigner we tied up."

"Yeah! And I paid for that girl's clinic bills. Don't put up so much fuss when I'm just putting her back on her place."

"You…"

"You know man, come here…"

One of the leaders of the rowdy male students stood up and walked towards me before placing his arm on my shoulders.

"We're in Class-S, alright? We hold this school in our palms! We're the elite of elites in here!"

"Yeah! Ko-kun is right!"

"All hail, Class-S, amirite?!"

As they cheered for what he just said, my courage sank deeper and deeper quickly.

"Don't think too much about those plebians. They live to be toys and entertainers for us. Remember that and you can enjoy your time here greatly, you feel me?"

"Y-Yeah…"

"Alright! Come on, boys! Now that he made me remember that guy, let's mess with him again!"

"Right beside you, Ko-kun!"

"Now that he said that, I heard rumors that Hino-kun hit on another girl."

"Should we drag her to the usual art room, girl?"

"Yeah. Text me later once you got her, I'll make sure to ruin her enough even if it will cost me a great deal of money."

"Ehh? Are you really concerned with cash when you have three sugar daddies after you?"

As they left one by one to continue what they have always been doing, I can do nothing but hold onto the podium to try not to fall down on my weak and shaking knees.

"No… This is impossible! I can't stop them…"

Basically, our values as just too far apart. I cannot change them and they don't wish to change their selves either because as how they put it…

Money can do everything.

"Hey kid… You alright?"

"…Ah. Ann-san."

"Haah… Come on, let go of the sponge and sit down in front of the counter."

"Y-yes… I… I understand."

In the end, I can do nothing. I wasn't able to do anything.

"Fuuu… This one's quite hard on the throat. Siberian cigarettes sure hit hard."

"…"

"This is just for today… since you seem a bit shellshocked."

"Ann-san… that is…"

As I silently sat in front of the counter, Ann-san mixed up some drink for me and I noticed that she placed a shot of alcohol on it.

"Just keep it a secret. You're turning 18 next month anyway. What freak would make a fuss about it?"

"T-Thank you… Oh, the payment is-"

"It's free. Store policy, remember?"

"Oh yeah… first tryers has free three drinks."

I stared at the minty and blue colored mojito and after picking it up, drank it lightly.

"Ack!"

"Huh? You croaked on that already? Man… you're a lightweight."

"A-and who gave a mojito to a first timer here, huh?"

"Alright, alright… I know that…"

Even if the alcohol slightly burned my mouth and throat, I still finished drinking it and Ann-san provided me another refill.

"Haah… I suck…"

"Knocked now, huh? Come on, let me hear it while it's not yet midnight."

"I… I finally understood why my classmates didn't think about their actions as wrong… it's because they have the money and power to make none of it wrong…"

"…"

"Damn elites… just because they are rich… just because they rule the place…"

"Kid… just forget it."

"Why are you saying that?"

"Because I care for you. You don't deserve to get into this mess anymore."

As Ann-san said that, the drunk me hit the counter and with a drunken strength, took her by the collar.

"Don't you understand that all of this is killing me?!"

"Ich!"

"Hey kid! Let go of Judy!"

"No, sir! Please don't…"

"…Judy."

One of the grown-up customers was about to pull me away when Ann-san raised her hand to stop him.

"Kh! I can't… I can't do anything… Hik!"

"Come on…"

"Kih! Hck!"

"Just let all of it out… I'm right here."

Ann-san gently took me by the wrists and let me rest my face on her shoulder as I cried my heart out.

"I can understand their pain… they are all trying their best… trying to do whatever they can do to get a better life."

"…"

"I… I can understand that so… I want to help out…"

"Alright, I'm listening… just say all of it."

"Kh! Why… why can't I do anything to stop them?!"

That night, the usually silent bar in New Tokyo was filled with my desperate and pained drunken shouts. Although some of the patrons felt disappointed that their order for their favorite drinks was delayed, they nevertheless didn't feel any grudge with me who clung to Jullianne whom I have looked at as an elder sister in this place.

"Ey, Ko-kun! This is the fifth time that loser escaped our boys."

"Darn it… I know that! Bastard has been lucky for a while."

"…"

A week after that night, some of my classmates noticed something wrong with how much of their usual victims escaped their attacks.

"That damn wench!"

"H-hey, girl! Don't get too fessed up and ruin your make up!"

"Y-yeah! We can just corner her again somewhere, right?"

"You two better do it cuz I'll bash her face in so much that no one can recognize her! That bitch got seen by Hino again! I won't let anyone get that guy!"

"…"

All of their victims seem to evade them at the places where they lie in wait for them.

"He's nearly here…"

"Get ready, I'll blow off some steam on this loser."

"Sure, Ko-kun."

"…"

"H-huh? Is he looking down on his phone?"

"Come on, junkie… Get near here so no one can see us."

"…"

"H-Hey! He's taking another turn!"

"A-after him!"

As for the reason, I can proudly state that it is me.

"T-Thank you very much… I got beaten up by those guys before and even the teachers don't care about it."

"…It's alright. So long as you keep this a secret from them."

"Y-Yes… thank you again."

I made a group chat room where I contacted anyone that I heard in their conversations.

"Don't go down alone once your classes are over. Try to stick with a guy since they won't go after you if you have one beside you."

"Thank you very much, senpai. I owe you a lot."

One by one, their victims dwindled. They tried to find more people to mess with, but those students also got warned by me through their classmates that I can contact.

"Darn it! This sucks!"

"My fists been wanting some action… but those bastards keep on slipping off our hands."

"Yeah… this is frustrating me, Ko-kun."

"…"

From one corner of the room, I listened to all of their conversations and complaints about their recent lack of people to beat up or shame.

"Tch! That skank…!"

"Hino-san did go after her, huh?"

"Don't feel so bad, girl. You can just get a new guy to mess around-"

"But only Hino can satisfy me down there, you idiots!"

And even the leader of the women finally showed her true reason for beating up anyone who was hit on by her boyfriend. A simple case of nymphomania, it seems.

"…This is better."

From that same corner where I sat, I spoke those words under my breath. I felt that I have done a lot by warning all of them that could've been hurt by these terrible people again and again.

For the first time in a while, I felt happy about something. Finally, I told myself, I have done what I wanted to do not by appealing to its perpetrators but through saving their would-be victims.

"I have a shift by evening… Ann-san would hate it if I arrive too late…"

I saved all of them when they were the one at harm. I was the one who brings the warnings.

"Hey. You there."

"Huh?"

"Come with us."

*Byak-!*

I wish someone can do the same when I needed it.

"Urk… W-What in the world…?"

"Quite awake, ain't we?"

I was hit by an aluminum baseball bat on the head and fell unconscious after hitting the pavement. When I woke up, I noticed that the world is inverted shortly before someone spoke behind me and swung a bat towards my tied-up body.

*Hyuk-!*

"AAAAHHHH!!!"

"You damn!"

"URGH!"

"Meddlesome!"

"GYAAA!!!"

"Plebian!"

"GUAGH!"

After being repeatedly hit with the bat on the abdomen, I threw up blood which fell down not on a floor beneath my head but on the school building's entrance roof several stories below me.

"Ko-kun. Do the honors."

"Yeah, yeah… I've been waiting for this."

Suddenly, the leader of the male students appeared and fiddled with the crank attached to the rope and pulley that suspends me above the high-rise building. He moved it up and down, testing if it really works.

"You know man… I had high expectations with you, we all did, amirite, boys?"

"Damn straight, Ko-kun!"

"Of course, we do!"

"Kuh! How did-"

"How did we know? Well, ain't it obvious, man? We paid those plebians."

"-!"

"Turns out, studying in this school is quite costly and any kind of thing they can sell certainly gets easy to sell when the semester is almost up when they can't pay their fees."

"No… It can't be…"

"We already told you before, man… Money solves everything. Even our problem with a pesky insider mole who's been ruining our fun."

"Include me in that, Ko-kun."

"Oh! Our classroom Madonna! You seem like you finally got the energy to beautify again after we caught him, huh?"

"Shuddup. I wanna give him a piece of my mind too."

The leader of the women walked near me after taking the baseball bat from one of the men.

"Haah… pesky little boys like you are the reason why I am picky with who I sleep with…"

"Hahaha… Don't… don't you spread your legs for smelly, old men because you keep on beating up the girls that your manwhore of a boyfriend hit on because of how rotten you are as a woman?"

"Why, you-!"

"GACK!"

"You son of a bitch! How dare you insult me, you sack of shit!"

"URUGH! GAH!"

She kept on swinging the bat, hitting my face with her full strength without holding back.

"Haaah! Haaah! Haaah!"

"Kh… Kak!"

I coughed out blood and a tooth that her beating broke before facing her again and giving her a smile.

"Keh-keh! The truth really hurts bad, don't it…?"

"You…!"

"Enough. If you beat him any further, we can't enjoy the rest of this lesson with him."

"Tch!"

The leader of the male students held her by the wrist before she can swing the bat again and told her something about a "lesson" they have for me.

"Now, now… let's go back to our main deal here…"

"…"

"You see, man… What you did a total trash move. It really is just too much for us to settle with a talk or two. So, to fix up everything and… you know, get back for all the attempts we missed because of you, we thought that maybe you can be the amusing little critter to entertain us."

"…what?"

"Hence, the pulley and rope right here. You know, standard and run-of-the-mill entertainment for all of us here!"

He pressed a button by the crane's console which slowly unwound the rope on the end of the pulley.

"W-wait! This knot!"

"Yep! The more it is let go, the more it become loose around you."

"Crap!"

I moved my arms, trying to grab hold of the rope that is slowly loosening up and making me inch straight down to the far-off ground below.

"Hup!"

"AAAAAAAGGGGGHHHH!!!"

"Yoo-hoo!"

"That would teach him!"

When he noticed that I was able to slip my elbows out, he suddenly reversed the movement of the pulley which quickly tightened the rope and violently crushed my forearm.

"Come on, man! Make it out!"

"Didn't you help out those plebians to make it out of our attacks?!"

"Save yourself now! Just like how you did to those traitors who sold you out!"

"HAAAHH… GAAAHHH!"

Pain coursed throughout my body. I felt the bone in my forearm was snapped into two and my torso being crushed by the tightening rope.

"Alright! Back to letting you down!"

"URGH! AAAHHHH!"

Even if it was crushed, I still tried to squirm my arms out of my binds as I started to feel dizzy after being hung upside down for so long.

"KUH! I CAN… DO THIS!"

"Hahaha! Too bad!"

*YUIK-!*

"AAAAAHHHH!!!"

When I was planning to hang on the rope using my knees, he waited for the time when I formed the appropriate posture before tightening the rope again and crushing my kneecaps.

"WAHAHAHA!!!"

"This is getting so good!"

"Another one! Another one!"

As the rope tightened again to the point that I can no longer feel anything below my now crushed kneecap, they shouted their cheers, wanting me to struggle again and again to feed their sadistic desires.

"All of you…"

"Huh? Oi, oi! This guy looks like he's about to say something!"

"Come on! Say what you want before we crush your neck next!"

"…You…"

"Speed it up, man!"

"Yeah! You can't be holding up the fun, man!"

While my head pounded after being filled with blood and the impulses of pain throughout my body, I spoke one last defiant statement before I decided to end all of this.

"I will come back… and show you who is it that is lucky and unlucky in this place…"

"What the heck are ya' sayin', man…?"

"Can you just drop him down? We're wasting our time here if he won't wail and beg for his life after this."

Even if it was broken, I pointed my left pointer finger towards all of them and spoke my words.

"I will make sure that all of you…"

"""…"""

"…will burn in hell."

After that, I slowly lost consciousness and also the strength to keep myself propped by the rope.

"KYAAAA!!!"

"S-Somebody! Call an ambulance!"

"T-Teacher! Get a teacher right here!"

These last few voices were what I heard before losing my awareness.

"Alright sir… I am the lawyer provided by the public attorney's office."

"…"

"Ah! Sorry, I forgot that they told me that you are mute now after that incident. Just let me attach your translator then…"

"Thank… you… sir"

I woke up later in a hospital owned by the Miyazono corporation in New Tokyo. I learned from the doctor that I fell on my back and lost sensation and motor control on everything below my neck. Also, I became mute and can only talk through a neuro-translator that picks up my neural inputs and speaks for me through a computer.

"Alright… that would be our statement for the case. I would be there alone due to your current condition. But never worry about this sir. With how detailed your statement of the events are, as well as the records you have in your phone, I am sure that they cannot wriggle their way out of this."

"Thank you… again… attorney…"

"Yes, yes… You are very welcome, sir."

"Please… make them pay… for what they have done…"

Through my new robotic voice, I spent weeks after weeks inside of my room, waiting for the result of the case that I made against all of them who was there during that day and was responsible for my current condition.

The lawyer was very understanding and helpful. Even if the translation and narration of my words through the computer was a slow process for him, he patiently wrote everything I spoke about the case and with his words, I believed that I can have peace of mind regarding it.

"Good evening, sir."

"Attorney…"

"I am here to talk about our case over dinner."

However, I will soon be taught just how rotten this world has become as despair and frustration gripped my already pained and withered heart.

"There has been a change of plans regarding the case, sir… Everything will be ending soon."

"That is… good. I can finally… rest easy… knowing that they will all… be punished… finally."

"Oh… About that."

"Huh? What are you… doing? My translator is-"

The lawyer approached my head and took off the circlet around my head that detects my brainwaves needed by the translator.

"There… perfect silence."

"…"

"Room service!"

"Ah, yes. Come in."

After taking off the only thing that allows me to speak, a delivery lady carted in what should've been my meal. I tried my best to make a distressed face to get her attention and after placing a tray on my bedside table, she saw my expression and became a bit curious.

"Umm… sir, are you alright?"

"…"

"Oh. He's peeing, you see. He must be quite embarrassed due to your sudden arrival."

"A-ah… sorry sir. I'll take my leave now."

As the lady left the room, panic set in as I saw a strange glint on the eye of the lawyer.

"Wow, hamburger steak! Well, since it would only be wasted on you anyway, let me help myself on it then. Thank you for the food!"

"…"

He began to eat the food and at some points, spoke to me about why all of this is happening.

"You see, sir… It seems like there are things in out times that you have to look away from in order to move forward. As someone who studied in the lower levels in New Tokyo Academy, I was very glad to have been assigned to you because I thought I can get even with those that crushed me under their heel again and again back then…"

He used a knife to cut the hamburger steak piece by piece before gently sinking a fork into it and placing it on his mouth.

"But as I went through hearings after hearings, I was approached again and again by the other side's people. At first, they just bribed me with the usual. Money, a vacation out of the country, one of the sugar daddies of that female student you specially mentioned even offered me a night with the idol I really loved. Turns out, he runs the idol agency she is working for."

"…"

"But as you may know. I didn't yield for those. What's money and vacation? Those are just temporary. And I would never dare to accept that offer… even if I love Hiromi-chan, I am painfully aware that their managers, producers and other close friends of the company elites passes them around like the last stick of weed in a pot session."

"…"

"But what they offered earlier was pretty good. Enough for me to state to the judge that I will be consulting you again about some "inconsistencies" I found on your affidavit. The judge, seemingly in with the ruse as well, told me that I can take my time while showing off a pretty expensive diamond-studded watch on his wrist."

"-!"

"So… Let's tell them the truth, sir."

After placing his utensils in their proper finished positions, he raised his face and showed me an expression that terrified me from the bottom of my heart.

"You weren't involved with the students in the lower sections being picked on by your classmates. You never texted them or informed them of anything."

He took out my phone which contains the prime evidences that I have about the case and forcefully threw it across the room, shattering it into pieces.

"Mm-!"

"You were not approached by your classmates with an ill-intention. They are all good and rule-following students who are the pride of their academy and honorable carriers of their family's names."

He took the notebook that contains all of my detailed statements about that afternoon and ripped it into shreds.

"And most of all, they weren't responsible for your injuries. They never tied you up or beat you with a bat at the rooftop of the school building. Your broken forearm and kneecaps were all self-inflicted injuries to make sure that you will not live past that day."

"Mm! Mmm!!!"

Even if I was paralyzed the neck-down, I still struggled to the best of my abilities. I ordered my body to at least respond, to at least, hear my orders that I so desperately gave them. But none of them even moved an inch.

"And most of all, your fall was a suicide attempt following the truth that your parents have left you behind. School regulations has been interested with your ability to sustain your school fees and are nearly aware that you work in a discrete bar in the city as a call boy."

"-!"

When he mentioned the bar and showed me an edited picture of my face placed over a male stripper's body, I instantly understood what they were trying to do.

"That's right, sir. All of them has got you cornered."

"…"

"You went against people who will always be right because they can make the world itself to agree that they are right."

All of this… the renouncement of my entire statement, the collusion in the court, the money that went around to all of them and the logo in the new uniform of my lawyer.

"After all, isn't the Miyazono Law Firm's motto "The truth is proven through the eyes of men, not from the eyes of god"?"

All of this… is a cover-up for the school and the company above it to save their relationship with those rotten students' families and a show of their power and influence over the country… no, even the world.

"Now… let's write the next part of this story. This time, you are not the writer… you're just a character. And this character is about to have his last fight."

He opened his case and out of it, I recognized the logo on the syringe… the logo of the Miyazono Genetic Laboratories. And knowing some of the rumors about what is going on in there regarding their pursuit to perfect human cloning and human-animal hybrids, I feared for the worst.

"Mmm! Mmm!!!"

"Come on… You're going to die in some way after this anyway. Why not go out with a style by helping them out with their research. Some Miyazono bigwigs were interested with you after hearing about your full-body paralysis and asked me to deal with you in this way. This is their genetic prototype with a Lamprey gene by the way. Very interesting animal after I heard about how it can regenerate its spinal cord if it is damaged."

With me not able to fight back or even move, he made me turn away to my side and injected the fluid into my spine.

"Mmm! MMMM!!!"

"Whoa! Whoa there… I'm no medical guy, so you have to pardon my sloppiness. I think I pierced a bone and not the cushioning layer. Well, whatever. They said that even if you die before results can appear, you'll still be useful."

He threw the syringe to a bin as I felt something warm climbing up my back and a radiating pain flowing throughout all of my body.

"Mmm!!! Mnnnn!!!"

"Well now, my job here is done. Next hearing will be about you rescinding the case and them not asking anything else for the bother. At least you can die without inconveniencing anyone."

"MMNNGG!!! MMM!!!!!!"

"Remember this once you're in the other side, sir. Tell it to any numbskulls who's about to reincarnate into this world."

"Mhh! Mhm!!!"

"Don't mess with the Miyazono corporation… they're absolutely merciless to their enemies."

As he closed the door to my room, it was also the start of the painful effects of the injected prototype gene fluid. For the entire night, I received no rest from the incredible pain and burning sensation flowing throughout my body.

"…"

It felt like I was being burned inside of a furnace… while being fed alive to ravenous wolves.

"…"

I wanna die.

"…"

I just want to die…

"…"

Please let me die.

"…"

Someone! Please just snap my neck and free me from this rotten world!

I'm sick of it… Sick of it all…

The useless adults with minds of lustful teenagers who brought me to this world and yet, did not care for me when they are done with each other.

The rotten and tilted system of society where only those who are up in the social steps matter and anything they want to happen, will happen. And anything they want to be bent to their will, will be bent to its greatest possible extent.

The children of those elites who only live to torment us who are under them. Living in the luxury built upon all of the people they tormented and murdered.

I hate those people I am supposed to call my parents. I hate this society that allows for such injustice just because someone has more money and power. I hate those people who think that they cannot be harmed because of their stature.

But most of all…

"I hate this world… you say?"

"-?!"

"Hey there. Been quite a time since we last met, yes?"

"C-Charon-san…? W-Wait! My voice! My arms and waist!"

As someone spoke out the things that was swirling in my head, I turned and saw the face of Charon-san and instinctively spoke his name and sat up on my bed, two things I no longer should be able to do because of my paralysis.

"I can speak! I can move!"

"…"

"I need to get out! Get out and tell the nurses to-"

*Shik…*

"Huh? W-wait… what is this…?"

As I was about to stand up to call for a nurse to help me out, I noticed that there was a black chain coming out of my chest that binds me to the bed.

"I'm sorry, kid. You're not actually alright."

"C-Charon-san…?"

"Look at the bed… you'll understand what I mean."

"O-okay… w-w-w-what?! Urgh!"

"Those bastards have no respect on the sanctity of human lives… If I can, I would be the ones to kill them. But I must follow my principles…"

I turned around and saw my own self laying down on the bed with a face and skin that was indescribably misshapen and unlike a human's appearance. My skin was alike a lamprey's, and my mouth grew sharp rows of teeth.

I became a monster before I died… that was how I understood this situation.

"C-Charon-san… what is happening…?"

"I'll make this quick kid… You said back then that you will make them pay for everything, right?"

"That… yes. I told them those words."

"…Do you still wish to do that?"

"Why… why are you asking all of this, Charon-san? I'm dead now… what does it matter if I-"

"Look into my eyes!"

"-!!!"

With his shout, I looked at his eyes and I felt a massive amount of dread and innate fear welling out throughout my body in an instant that if stayed for even a single more second, could've turned me insane on the spot.

"W-What… what the hell?!"

"It seems like you understand what is happening now, kid… Good. Because what I am about to offer you will decide how you will fulfill your cursed promise with those rotten brats."

From under my bed, he took out a pet kennel bag and from it, brought out a kitten whose fur is as black as the night and pale-yellow eyes as sharp as a knife's edge.

"You used to tell me all about those lower level students being unlucky and you who got into the higher levels greatly lucky… Now, I am giving you a choice for a second chance."

"…Charon-san."

"Live a new life… if you can even call it a life. But this time, instead of being helplessly crushed by those animals in human skin, you will have more than enough power to not just fight back but crush them to the point that even the most painful death for them will not be enough to escape what you will do to them."

"…"

"It's time to turn the tables of fate on them. Crush them as how they crushed every part of you. Bring them to the hell that you promised you will bring them to."

He placed the kitten near me and after looking at my misshapen corpse and the almost ghostly appearance of Charon-san in front of me, I knew that there was only one logical choice.

"They say that the belief that black cats carry misfortune is just a myth… but from this little one, I can sense a piece of the dread and fear that I saw in your eyes, Charon-san…"

"…What is your choice then, kid?"

That's right. They might've killed me, but as I will prove right now, even those who have died still have a revenge to do.

"…Let's show them how hard misfortune can hit someone."

Several months later… unusual things began to happen in the New Tokyo academy's campus.

"HYAAA!!!"

"S-Someone! Call an ambulance!"

Some students were one day found dead due to electrocution in the male bathroom. Apparently, a loose wire touched the faucets and killed three male students from the higher levels in one swoop.

"Hahaha! Here face back then was hilarious!"

"Hmph! She deserves it for trying to wear a better make up than me."

"W-W-Waaahhh!!! Look out, you four!"

"H-huh?"

*Ka-byak-!*

While walking out of the building, four female students from the higher level was hit by a construction support pillar that slipped off from the rooftop above and instantly crushed their bodies. All four victims were dead.

"Yes, yes… I understand very well, sir. Yes… I will be there in a moment, sir. I'm already in the elevator… W-w-wait… earthquake?! Wah! WAAAAAAHHHH!!!"

Meanwhile, a newly hired lawyer of the school from the Miyazono Law firm was about to meet with the school administrators when an earthquake happened while he is inside the elevator and in the devastation, the elevator cables snapped off and he fell to the basement with a gruesome death.

"Waahhh! What a cute kitty!"

"Nyaa~! Nyaaa…!"

"Uwaaah! Its fur is really soft too!"

"Does it have an owner? Can I take it in though?!"

"Nyaaa!"

"Ri-chan. You can't take anymore than you have in your home. It might have an owner too?"

"Then I'll just pay off the owner or if they refuse, shut them up with my daddy's men."

"Haaah… the usual way, huh?"

And just now, in an intersection at the afternoon when the students in the school are just about to leave, five students from the higher class, a mix of three female and two male, stopped to pet a cat that appeared in front of them in a pedestrian crossing. Little did they know that this time…

"I'm sorry there, young lady."

"Huh?"

"Nyaaa! Nyuuuu…!"

…they are about to meet their promised end.

"I don't think I can talk people who are dead."

"-!"

"W-Wait…! You-!"

"How… how?!"

"Haha… you still recognize me, huh?

All of them had their eyes almost bulging out of its sockets after they saw my face as my cat climbed to my arms.

"You're dead… you're supposed to be dead!"

"Ko-kun said that they already handled you! How… how could this be-?!"

"Ko-kun, huh…? I still remember how he and his crew died a pitiful death in that comfort room… and how about that bitch got crushed along with his friends using the same pulley crane you guys used to murder me."

"You… you can't be here to-"

"I actually do, my fellow former classmates… I should thank my cute little buddy for marking all of you though."

"Ah! No… NOOO!!!"

They all looked at their hands and on the back of their palms was a black cat footprint that emanates an aura filled with malice.

"Let me leave you with this message before all of you go and I finally fulfill my agenda before saving those who really need me to scatter my misfortune to their oppressors."

*BLARP! BLARP!!!*

From one side of the road, an out-of-control truck was about to ram towards them who were frozen in place with my sudden appearance.

"You are just all unlucky… all of you."

That day marked the day when I fulfilled my promise of revenge and reaped their souls that I may torment all of them till my agreement with Charon-san be fulfilled.

"Hey there… You look a bit better than last time."

"Well, I've done the last batch. I can now go ahead to helping others out."

"I see… Well then, since you have achieved something, I guess this call for a small celebration for you. Anything you order upfront will be on the house. Go on, big boy."

"Hmm… Since that drink is still close to me as it was the first blend you made for me, I'll go with it. Mint Blue mojito for me, and warm blended milk for Haru-kun."

"Oh yeah. I haven't greeted you yet, little buddy. Just hold on, I'll make you two your favorites."

As Ann-san tended to my alcoholic order and the favorite milk of my kitten of misfortune, I asked a question that has long been hanging in my head.

"Hey, Ann-san…"

"Yeah?"

"It's been 15 years since I… you know, kicked the bucket and never got older. And I noticed that you also didn't change. I kinda got interested about why."

As she poured my drink and placed a plate for Haru-kun's milk, Ann-san simply gave me a smile that has her signature lit cigarette on it.

"Don't ask a lady about the secret of her youth… even I will hold a grudge if you keep up with that, O harbinger of Misfortune."

"Ahahaha! Well then, I will not do so anymore. With this, I thank you for the drink, Ann-san."

"Mm. Go and enjoy your drink before you leave. It seems like boss just finished with his work in Chiba alongside Maestro. He might need your help next."

"Got it. To my first steps to a better world!"

As I knocked back the alcohol in one gulp, I saw a faint reflection of my face on the now empty glass and was able to look back upon everything in just a single moment.

"…I'm dead. But I've never felt so alive."

"Nyaaaa~!"

"Haha! You're agreeing with me, Haru-kun?"

"Myaaa~~~!"

In this rotten world of sinners, where no true saint lives and the tears and wailings of the unfortunate plebians mingles with the maddened laughs and cheers of the fortunately born, there are beings like me who work as the equalizer of such unfair lines.

"Hey, wake up."

"Oh. Charon-san…?"

"You're being called by someone. A Highschool girl in Old Tokyo Academy."

"Oh… yeah. I understand. Well then… Urgh… First job in my career!"

Though it may look so simple and innocent, death comes to all beings in all kinds of ways.

"Hyahaha! Come on! Rip off her uniform!"

"We're gonna have a good time, boys!"

"Mmmpppphhh! Mmmm!!!"

And as one who doesn't just barely straddle the line but has sunk to the very depths of it, I was someone who has almost full control of that death.

"Myaaaa~~~!"

"W-What?"

"Why is this cat in here?!"

"I-It's bumping its head on our legs!"

"Mmm! Mnnn!!!"

"Quiet down, girlie."

"Mm!"

"This will be over soon."

Death that I have been using to correct this world… but not as easily identifiable as others of my kind would do.

"W-Wha?!"

"Why are we in a train track?!"

*BLAAAAAAARRRRRPPPP!!!*

"""HYAAAA!!!!"""

As the drugged out kidnappers that Haru-kun marked was teleported to the train tracks behind the warehouse and got run over by the freight train, I approached the girl and as expected, she backed away in fear.

"P-P-P-Please…! Please don't hurt me!!!"

"No, no… I am not here to hurt you, girlie. I actually came here since you called for help."

"W-W-What…?"

"Anyone who faces unfair misfortune fall under my radar. And you being held by those addicts sure rose your rank in my list to help out."

Nowadays, I have ditched the school uniform of the place I detested ever since my kind-of revival… and as someone who saves people, I wanted to dress the part.

"Who… are you, mister?"

"Hehe! Did the bartender uniform pique your wonder? Well, it does looks good. And to answer your question… Haru-kun! Come on, we have to introduce ourselves!"

"Nyaaa!"

"They're here!"

*BAK-!*

"Kyaaa!"

While I was about to introduce us two, the other addicts outside entered the warehouse and fired a gun to the ceiling to show that they are armed and wouldn't think twice of killing.

"We saw that! I don't know how the hell is happened, but you will pay for that!"

"Yeah! Blood for blood, boy!"

"M-Mister…! What should we do?!"

"Heh… just stay behind me, girlie. Let their misfortune play with their lives."

*CRICK… CRACK-!*

""W-what?!""

"<Ars Necrosa><Flip of Evil Fortune>"

I casted an ability and from above their heads, the ceiling they shot cracked open slowly.

"Crap!"

"NOOO!!!"

"<Sticks and Stone that Breaks the Bones>"

And from above, a huge ventilation hose fell down and crushed both of them flat to death.

"Ahhh…!"

"Well then, to continue our introduction!"

Without even missing a beat, I turned around and presented myself and my cat.

"My name is Sawamura Shisui. And this is my trusty magical cat, Haru-kun."

"Nyaa!"

"And we are the duo of the Misfortunate Felines. Bringing the most absolute bad luck to bad people and draining it off from those who are good."

I am the Harbinger of Misfortune and the Bringer of Justice through the sheer machinations of the universe's system of fortune.

I am the 6th Spirit of Death, The Bartender of Bad Luck, Sawamura Shisui.