'"Unknown"'

As the sun settled on the horizon, the evening sky emitted a bright, soft orange hue.

A figure shrouded in obscurity flies over the orange hue of the ocean, heading towards some sort of island.

Somewhere distant, a person walks barefooted along the hot, littered, rocky ground as a small trail of blood follows.

"Argh, Damn it all! I'll make those bastards pay." Muttered a young boy with an irritated expression whilst biting down on a small black plastic bag.

He was short, slighty dark-skinned, and dirty. He had long messy black hair that slightly covered his deep, dry, almost dead grayish black eyes. He wore old, torn, rugged cloth with scars and bruises all over his thin, yet durable body.

As he continued walking his grip on his bleeding right arm tightened, leaving behind droplets of blood.

On a wider scale view, the boy seems to be walking through some sort of abandoned town scatterd with makeshift shelters and massive piles of junk.

........

"Uh, finally, I'm home," the boy utters as he sits on his dirty mattress, still gasping for air after the long trek to his makeshift home.

The structure seems pieced together from scraps, planks, and bits of metal scavenged from the surrounding junk.

The boy drops the plastic bag on the floor next to his feet and attends to his throbbing right arm.

"Agh! If it weren't for those fools I wouldn't be like this right now," he exclaims, the pain evident in his voice.

Anger simmers beneath the surface as he adds, "I'll make those jerks pay!" Fists clenched, his frustration boils over as he continues, "I'll get my revenge, you hear me, Yuji!" With a burst of emotion, he takes out his anger on a nearby metal pipe, delivering a resounding strike. However, it did leave a bruise on his knuckles.

He then takes off his old shirt which reveals his thin frame. A huge and very intimidating scar is on his back. It's a huge burn scar, almost like a brand, that almost covers his entire back.

Although the brand-like scar is very complex, it has a close resemblance to that of a lion.

Afterward, he reaches for the plastic bag he had with him, takes out a first aid kit, and proceeds to patch up the wound on his right arm and his knuckles.

After completely patching up his wounds, he thinks, "I'm hungry. I haven't eaten anything since this morning, and fighting those soldiers took a lot of energy." his belly grumbled at the thought.

Abruptly, someone calls him from out of the tent, shouting, "Hey Akishima! You there?!"

The boy was a little startled at first but after figuring out whose voice it was, a warm, slight smile lightened his expression.

He exited the tent to meet the person.

Realizing that his suspicions were correct, he greeted the person with his arms crossed, "Sup meathead? You're not dead yet. That's a surprise."

The person smiled as he responded, "Oh, I'm alright. Still hanging in there. I won't be dying any time soon."

The individual was noticably taller than the boy along with a very muscular body.

He had dark orangish-red hair with reddish-brown eyes, his arms crossed just like our boy, and his whole body was filled with many scars aswell. He wore very similar clothing to our boy.

The boy then realized a large sack filled with something at the person's foot and inquired about it, "What's that?" awaiting an answer.

"Oh, this? It's my day's hunt!" He exclaimed with a cheerful smile.

The boy was a little shocked that the person managed to gather this much food from the junk in just one day.

The person then revealed the reason behind his visit. "You see, I came here to have a little feast with yah."

With a huge, cheerful smile he picked up the sack to show just how much he had acquired, and soon after they made a little fire with their seating flanking the fire, and ate a good meal while talking.

But the boys companion wasn't finished surprising him yet as he pulled out a bottle of alcohol.

"Wow! Is that?!" The boy exclaimed in shock.

His companion replied, "Yep that's right it's a full-sized bottle that hasn't even been opened yet. It's practically finding a gold."

He then continues as he opens the bottle, "We may be under age but who's stopping us?! After all, 'One man's trash is another's treasure!'. So it's time to party!" he exclaimed as he poured alcohol for himself the boy

They enjoyed their night and soon after, parted ways as the boy went to sleep.

........

"It's almost time… Soon it'll all begin" A deep, distorted, eerie, and shadow-like voice chuckles.

The boy, now appearing naked, slowly turns around to see the person who was speaking.

But as he's about to see the individual he suddenly woke up. "Huh!?" He jumps up from his sleep, covers in cold sweat.

He then questions himself, "What the hell was that?"

Holding the right side of his face with his left hand, understandably confused and not knowing what the voice was who spoke to him. He shrugs it off and goes back to sleep.

........

Yawning the boy stretches as he stirs awake.

"Another day, another big hunt!" he thinks, filled with optimism unlike the previous day.

He reaches for the same black plastic bag and takes out a toothbrush and toothpaste.

At this moment he remembers back to last night about the dream he had. "What was that dream? It never happened before. Plus, at that moment it felt too real to be a dream."

" Sigh...Maybe it was because I drank too much last night." he shrugs it off once more.

"Well, whatever that was worrying about it won't solve anything." He said with a relaxed smile.

"I should just be grateful that I managed to steal this from Yuji's HQ," he looks at the toothbrush and paste, a touch of amusement in his voice.

"Along with the first aid kit I used to patch up my wound." He commented whilst exiting his home.

........

"Ah, there it is, the standpipe," the boy breathed a sigh of relief after navigating through the cluttered junk for what felt like an eternity.

"Hey! Aki! Aki!... AAAKKKKIIII!" a young boy's voice rings out, accompanied by energetic waving.

The boy's once optimistic mood abruptly switched as if he was suddenly expose to something irritating.

"Grrr… How many times do I have to tell you?!" The boy's patience wears thin as his frustration starts to bubble up.

"Eh?" responds the other boy, tilting his head to the right in confusion.

"STOP CALLING ME THAT!!" His voice raises a notch, a mix of annoyance and irritation in his tone.

"For crying out loud! My name is AKISHIMA!!!" Akishima explodes with anger at what seems to be a reaccuring thing.

"OK! OK! OK! I get it! Now stop shouting!" The other boy cried.

He had long, messy, dark-brown tinted hair with purplish-hazelnut eyes. He wears similar clothing to that of Akishima. However, unlike Akishima and the muscular boy, that was present the previous day, this boy barely have any scars, just alot of brusies.

The boy ran towards Akishima as Akishima ran away from him, heading towards the standpipe.

.......

"W-Why are you so fast." Akishima inquired as he gasp for air.

"I was gonna ask you the same thing." The other boy shared; also gasping for air.

"By the way, Hisashi how many times do I have to tell you to stop calling me Aki?" Akishima questioned the boy as he began brushing his teeth

"What's wrong with Aki though?" Hisashi inquired also beginningto brush his teeth.

"Don't play dumb with me, you know what's wrong," Akishima retorts, his irritation palpable.

"Well, if I knew why, why would I be asking you?" Hisashi's expression still bears a look of bewilderment.

"Alright, smartass, you want me to spell it out for you!?" Akishima's frustration grows even more pronounced.

"Sure," Hisashi nonchalantly responds.

"Alright then, I don't like it when you call me Aki 'cause it's a girl's name!" Akishima admits, his frustration bubbling.

"Oh, you keep on saying that, but have you forgotten what I said? I can't bother to say Akishima, it's a mouthful," Hisashi rationalizes, their tooth brushing almost complete.

"Well smartass didn't you just say 'Akishima' and I'm pretty sure you said it quite fast as well." Akishima countered.

"Hey..." a deep, menacing voice interrupts.

"Huh" a shiver went down the spines of both Akishima and Hisashi.

They stood, frozen, with their hands on their toothbrushes, facing the standpipe.

Cold sweat captivating their whole bodies. It was as if a tall, muscular figure stood behind them, a chilling presence that left them frightened, shocked, and afraid.

"N-No way!" their minds scream in unison as they're positive they know who's behind them.

"Good morning," the imposing figure starts, a sly smirk playing on his lips.

"Y-Yu-Yuji?!" Akishima and Hisashi's voices quiver, the terror evident in their faces.

"Little twerps," the newcomer concludes, his tone dripping with menace.

(To Be Continued)