Chapter 14:.Chris and Gomburza 1

"Hey, now we can't even be sure if we captured the right person," the long haired man remarked.

"...but the description matches him, right?" the other questioned.

"That's why I told you not to knock that bastard down. He was the one the boss sent to recognize the guy. Why couldn't you hold back a bit?"

"Sorry, it's just... I'm so pissed off about this one. He made a mess before too," bald bulky guy, trying to reason his ways as he scratched his head.

"Whatever, we just need to confirm with this guy if he is the one or not,"

Bickering in front of me, the two of them finally came up with a solution and turned their attention towards me.

"Hey, I asked you, right?" one of them demanded, tapping my shoulder and gripping it tightly. His hand felt unnaturally heavy.

"gahrgh..." I grimaced in pain, struggling to bear the weight of his hand.

"Why do you keep asking that?" I countered, trying to sound defiant.

"Heh," he sneered, his neck cracking as he leaned closer. "I'm irritated right now, so you better answer me."

"I'm not sure, though," I replied, avoiding his gaze and pretending to be clueless. I didn't give a damn if he was pissed off.

I heard a sinister cackle, and then, in a flash of pain, I felt a burning sensation in my stomach. I was knocked onto my back, bewildered. I looked up to see him standing above me, his eyes cold and his hand still clenched in a fist.

Ha-ha-ha... This guy is fucking serious. Damn, it! It hurts... I wish I had been better prepared. He's fast, too.

"Chris, are you sure you should be doing that?" Suddenly, the bald guy stepped forward and intervened, tapping Chris on the shoulder. "Didn't he tell us not to hurt him if he really is that Matsuki guy?"

He? Who could they be referring to? They've been mentioning someone they called "boss." Could that be the person behind all of this?

"Ah, right, sorry. I lost my cool," Chris, the black-haired man, responded. He was tall, but compared to the bald guy, his physique was more normal.

He lowered his fist and leaned against the wall beside me.

"Hey, kid, you better answer, or that guy may do something you can't even imagine," the bald guy warned, bringing his face close to mine, forming a shallow smile with piercing eyes and an evil mind.

"Got it?"

...

I remained silent, realizing that they were asking me questions because they didn't know my true identity. However, it seemed that they had some information about me as well. Who were they? What were their intentions with me? I couldn't be sure of what was really going on.

For now, I needed to gather information. I needed to find out who was truly behind all of this and why they were doing it.

"Huh?" I puffed up my chest, with upright posture. I looked at him and rolled my eyes. "Haven't your school and parents taught you that you should let others know your name before asking theirs?"

"What?" His eyes widened, eyebrows raised. "High school kids these days are quite bold. Despite knowing the state you're in, you're still acting tough."

"Hmp... Whatever, I guess that's somewhat reasonable. My name is Gomburza. I'm a brawler, and that guy out there is Chris. Though I can't tell you anything about him. He's a pretty sensitive guy."

"A brawler?" I wondered aloud.

"Tsk... Gom," Chris, with his usual cold eyes, spoke up from the other side. He sat on the floor. "Don't tell inappropriate things to the kid. You're trying to brag again, but they won't understand any of that, you know?"

"Tsk... What a bummer. Can't you just let me do my thing?"

"Sigh, we're not here to play around. Just do whatever you want. I'll take a rest in the next room. Don't let them get away, got it?"

"Of course. Who do you think you're talking to?"

With that, the other guy named Chris disappeared into the next room.

"Now that he's gone, I can do what I want," Gomburza said with a smile. He suddenly placed his hand on my shoulder. "Don't worry, I don't have anything against you. If you just let me know your name, I wi--"

"It's Matsuki Satoro," I interrupted. It was pointless to hide it any longer. Keeping it to myself would only result in more punishment, so I decided to reveal my name.

"Oh, really?" Gomburza scratched his head, as if he couldn't believe it. "Well, the description matches you. We're just not so sure because you appeared here a bit late." He paused and looked me in the eye. "The thing is, that guy," he pointed at the lifeless body of a man tied to the wrecked chair. "He had his buddies come here earlier and cause a commotion, so we thought you were one of them, I guess...""

I didn't fully understand what he was talking about, but I couldn't help but be curious. I opened my mouth, not hesitating to ask, "Who's behind all of this?"

"Hmm..." He continued, stroking his chin. "You mean our boss? My boss instructed us to get you. I just received your description from that guy," he glanced over at the lifeless body again. "He was sent to us to wait for you here, and we just need to wait for him?"

"Your boss? Can I know his name?" I inquired.

"No, I can't tell you that," he replied. "Even I don't know his name. He's practically a mystery to us. I don't know anything about him or why we're doing this. We're just following the orders given to us."

"I do know that guy, though," he pointed his index finger at the man lying on the floor. He gritted his teeth. "That guy is pretty annoying. We've had to deal with him every year. He hasn't given up on whatever he's aiming for all these years. I only know that it has something to do with the boss's sister."

He seemed quite talkative, blurting out information to me. Perhaps he didn't think I would be able to escape from here, so he didn't worry about me knowing these details. For now, I decided to go along with the situation and see how things would unfold.

"Why am I even telling you this?" he sighed. "Well, I guess it's been a while since I talked to someone. I got carried away." He scratched his head. "I mean, we're always ordered to quickly finish a job, but now they're telling us to wait for someone." He lowered his head, appearing disappointed. He stepped farther away from me and kicked some debris on the floor.

"It's so boring in this old house," he yawned. "I haven't taken a nap in a week, and that guy is lying in another room. That bastard."

After expressing his frustrations and complaints, he leaned against the walls and sat down, crossing his arms and resting them on his knees.

"Hey, Matsuki kid, don't ever do something stupid. If you do, you already know what will happen," he warned, pointing his gaze at Korasaku and moving his index finger across his throat.

It was a visual way of saying, "you're dead."

I gulped, feeling a lump in my throat, and averted my eyes.