1 You will help

"I'm home!" Touma called out as he closed the door and took off his shoes. He walked over to the living room which was a few steps from the entrance of the apartment, and stumbled upon his brother. The meeting was unusual, because he saw his brother lying on the floor next to the sofa, with bloodshot eyes and a pool of blood around him. A knife pinned through his chest, his body lay lifelessly, traces of pain and sadness in his expression. It took Touma a moment to process what he was seeing.

"I-it's a joke right? Hey Eijun! Get up! It's not funny!" he called out. He was trembling; he bent down to slap his foolish brother whose idea of a joke was just plain cruel. No response, he wasn't even breathing. "No...no no no. You can't be serious-" he mumbled. He immediately became hysterical and began screaming and wailing. The scent of blood overwhelmed him and it became harder to breathe.

In the midst of his breakdown, he noticed a piece of paper, cleanly taped down beside his brother on the floor. He took it off and saw that it was a note. "You'll be next unless you pay us back with twice the interest by next month"

"It was them? They fucking killed him?! One more week! He asked for one more week!" he shouted. At this point he couldn't think straight; rage rushed through him. He still couldn't believe that his only family, his brother, who sacrificed everything to take care of him, was lying dead in front of him. He couldn't calm down, but he called the police. He was somehow able to articulate what had happened, through bouts of tears. They soon arrived to clean out the crime scene and take his brother away for a forensic check, and they took Touma to the police station to take his account on the situation.

Touma did not tell the police about the note, and the fact that his brother had debt. He wouldn't because he had a clear goal, and he could not achieve it if the police knew of those facts.

After the questioning, he was allowed to go home.

He did not eat that day. He went to his bedroom and curled up on his bed. He was in a trance like state, thinking about how everything was alright that morning, and how everything he had was taken away without a chance to even fight back within a few hours.

He wanted revenge; no, he needed revenge. He had nothing left to lose other than his own life, which frankly, had lost all its meaning.

His thoughts were interrupted when he got a notification on his phone. It was a message from an unknown number. "I can help you kill them."

His eyes immediately lit up. The absurdity of the random message and the identity of the sender did not seem to matter. All he knew was that he would do anything to avenge his brother. He texted back, "How?"

"Come to Drystone bar tomorrow at 2 pm."

He did not sleep all night. It was time to finally head out to meet the unknown person who claimed that they could help him. Of course Touma knew of the possibility of this being a trap and that he could end up dead. But there was also a possibility that it was real, and he wanted to desperately take hold of that chance. He looked up the location of the bar and soon reached his destination.

He stood at the entrance, contemplating as to whether he should enter the bar or wait outside. Before long, he was approached by a man who seemed to be in his 20s. The man was wearing casual clothing, and had medium length black hair. He had an unsettling grin plastered on his face. "So you came." He spoke in a low, mellow voice, which contrasted his soft, almost feminine features, and tall, slender stature.

"Are you the one who said you'd help me kill them? How are you going to do that?" Touma quickly asked.

"Not even going to ask how i know about what happened? You're quite amusing." the man grinned. "You can call me Five. The way I'm going to help you is by introducing you to a mercenary. How you convince her to take the job...is up to you."

"What? Up to me? How is that even helping me? I don't even have the money to hire a mercenary. Is this your idea of a sick joke? Are you from the group that killed my brother?" Touma became visibly angry.

"Of course not. I'm merely aware of what happened and felt like helping you. It is ultimately up to you whether or not you want to take me up on the offer." Five contended.

Touma furrowed his brows. He needed to do something, he knew he couldn't take revenge by himself. But where would he get the money? He eventually decided to meet this mercenary.

"I'll- I'll meet them."

"Okay then come with me." Five led Touma into the bar. The place was barren; there were barely any people there. A few drunks were passed out on some tables. They went to the counter where there was a girl seated, talking to what Touma assumed to be the bartender, and on the counter was an ash coloured cat.

"Cats are allowed in the bar? Also where's the mercenary? The people in here are all blacked out." Touma thought to himself. They came to a stop when they reached the counter. "Hey Hinoe!" Five called out.

"I already quit. Stop trying to convince me to come back." The girl who was seated replied in an annoyed tone. Five chuckled. "Oh cmon, I've got a new customer. Wouldn't you be kind enough to help him out? One more job wouldn't hurt. Besides don't you need the money?"

"I said no. I'm done with that shit. You can help him instead."

Touma was a bit confused. "Is she the mercenary?" he uttered. The girl turned back to look at them. "I'm not a mercenary." she said in a flat tone. She looked a bit angry.

"He said you could help me! Please I'll try my best to pay you however much it takes, please help me kill those bastards!" Touma suddenly cried out.

"Kill those bastards? Not another revenge sob story. Sorry but as i said, I don't do that stuff anymore."