The Bonds from the Past

[Unknown POV]

There's an old saying.

The fewer friends a person has, the more he cares about them.

I had had only four people in my life that I would consider my friends.

First it was my mom, leaving me at birth, never even saying goodbye.

The second was my dad, finally having a heart attack after all of the 'medicine' he took to fill the hole left by my mom's presence.

The third was Albert, always being able to make me smile. He was the only one who never left, despite my cold demeanour, despite my attitude towards others, he always stayed cracking jokes every chance he got. He was the muscle of our little group since we were little, while I had been the brain.

Even when stealing cookies from Uncle Ikaria's special jar that he would always conveniently leave unintended, he was always the one to open it with gusto.

It was my friend who filled the place of our heart.

My heart.

His was my heart, my saviour, the friend who served as my guide, the only able to pull me back when I had lost my dad.

'I remember that day perfectly, when I first got that call from Albert, at the first of us three to pass.'

We had always thought Albert would've been the first one to go, his parachute failing while skydiving when he reached 87 or something.

He had been taken away too soon.

My heart away with him.

I had been able to cope, diving head first into my career, even reaching its limit when earning the prestigious title of U.S. Secretary of Defence.

But it was meaningless. The life I had lived chasing after that title was meaningless.

I had pushed everyone away, every nice person who tried to introduce themselves to me, any woman who was drawn to either my face, status, or wealth, even my best friend Albert, not talking to him since the day of the accident.

'To think, all it took was a single drunk car crash to cause all this pain.'

Only reaching the end of my career, the end of the corporate ladder, did I realise how empty I felt inside, not losing just my heart, but my entire self.

I had wanted to reconnect with my only friend left after so long, only to cause me more pain.

He had moved on.

I did not hate him for it, rather I was thankful that I had had too be the one to remember our friends passing.

I could never be mad at him.

Neither could I be with the happiness he had found with his wife. I had been the one to leave him, not the other way around.

Even when I found out the identity of his wife, being the sister of that witch who had stolen my best 'friend' away from me, I forgave her in consideration for Albert.

Each day it grew more difficult, but I had been able to survive by watching them grow, watching them be a happy family.

Rosen had given Albert and I access to the security cameras years ago, to watch over his family should the need arise.

"Click," I turned off the screen of the T.V with my remote, while watching him walk briskly out of that building. 

'And oh you've grown Kuzan.' 

I had initially wanted to raise them alongside Albert, even if it meant being the 3rd wheel, by I knew the negative affect someone like me could bring to a child's development. 

Still, I could not help but grow jealous of her, stealing those precious moments away from me.

I was sure that if I had been the one in the room, on that day, coddling Kuzan out of his despair, the boy would have never turned out like this.

'I was right to hate her.'

I once again convinced myself of the justice behind my actions, while walking over to my desk to pick up my revolver.

I had always hated her sister for stealing Rosen away from me, but when I had learned that piece of information, I just couldn't help myself any longer.

'She was the one to take him away.'

She had been there, waiting for their arrival at the ice-cream parlour to announce her engagement to Albert. 

'She had been the reason for him taking that path that day.'

'She had been the one to take my heart away.'

"Click." the gun let out a whisper as I placed it on my temple.

It had been in a moment of weakness that I had hired him to get rid of her.

Still, I could not forgive myself for having almost caused harm to my beloved niece and nephew. 

Even though I had told him a number of times to not cause any harm to the rest of the family members.

Even though I had been given a second chance when, after providing them access to shut off the camera feed at the mansion, a home which was now gone all because of my selfishness.

I had again lost to my anger at having lost a place filled with so many memories. 

'I was too far in, I had too keep going.'

I had only come back to myself when I had realized what I had done.

'I had endangered my loved ones' safety.'

Although I had attempted to right my wrong by making sure Kuzan got the full support of the states. I knew that there was no righting the wrong I had done.

'Once I'm gone, he won't have any reason to be mad at them.'

I knew, despite everyone's guesses, that that boy was not Yujiro's son. I was the only one who knew. I might have hated that women with all of my guts, but I knew that she would never betray her beloved.

Kuzan was Rosen's son, of that I was sure, having conducted both of the DNA tests myself.

And I had been the one to almost take his daughter away.

And this time, it was a burden that I could not bear.

"POP!"

[Captain Strydum]

'That poor boy.'

I shook my head while opening the door of that room, seeing the man I had expected to meet sitting there on his seat next to the fireplace, happily smoking a cigar with a smile.

"Can't you see that I'm on vacation. So what do you want, huh Strydum?"

"Sigh," I let out a sigh at what I was about to say, my duty to the country compelling me to do so despite how much I hated doing it.

"That boy's issued a challenge."

"If you're here to talk about Baki, I'm not interested, come back in a month or something."

He didn't even let me get a word out before directing me to leave, a suggestion I would have taken him up on if not for the direness of the circumstance.

"No, it's about him." the man's earlier frown turning into a wide grin at the mere mention of his name, the boy who had recently won the position of his most beloved son.

"He's declared war."

"So what's it matter to me huh?" the man put on a front, despite the glee I could feel inside of him at hearing the boy's decision, proud like a father should be seeing his son following in his own footsteps.

"He asked for just one demand, the name and location of the person who hired that assassin." I told him the information that until then had been kept strictly classified, done so partially to make sure it did not make it to him.

"Interesting..." the man thought, surely coming up with demonic ideas of his own of how to have the most fun with this new information. 

"That still doesn't answer why you have that look on your face, come on, spit it out Strydum."

"We found him...but," I let out with pity at the boy's situation, hoping that his father would be able to help us break the news, "even I'm not sure if we should tell him."

"Hahahaha, and why's that?" the man laughed, seemingly to already predict that whatever answer I gave would cause him joy.

"He's killed himself."

"ZEHAHAHAHAHAHA."

[Kuzan POV]

I had waited so long for this moment, to see a friend also from a different world.

It had taken so much preparation, to thaw out Pickle, to transport him there from the start, to make sure that he woke up perfectly.

I had even given Mr. Tokugawa the leeway to keep him at the arena until he was ready to be woken up. I had even ensured that Pickle's prize was transported with him, fully intact this time, not a bite taken out from it.

Rather, I had specially ordered an industrial sized cooker for him, to prepare his meal despite the great cost and time it took to make such a large oven.

And I was sure that they had used it, given the fact that Pickle was standing there, in the middle of that arena, fully awake.

"I had prepared enough food."

"Then why the fuck then does my best friend look like he's starving right now?"

[Mitsunari Tokugawa POV]

'It's my fault.' I thought, while not daring to look into that beast's eyes.

I had gotten too impatient, wanting to see the ancient man's strength for myself, starving him and inviting Kaiou Retsu out to face him.

And I had already paid for it, watching that caveman walking ever closer to the unconscious Kaiou's seperated leg, with a swollen eye and tears streaming down his face.

"I had prepared enough food."

"Then why the fuck then does my best friend look like he's starving right now?"

[Katsumi POV]

The boy broke into the arena, running in from the side of the opposite entrance tunnel, obviously infuriated at what we had done, wanting to steal his prey right from under his nose once getting wind of it.

He looked infuriated, his entire body constantly conveying that emotion. 

At once, the caveman stopped his attempt to enjoy his meal.

'He's angry too, at having been disturbed during his meal.'

Still, I was in disbelief at what the caveman did next.

[Kuzan POV]

'He transformed.'

'Why am I so surprised, of course he would, given my current state.'

But although I was here to fight, I wasn't a jackass.

'Looks like it's time to finally put that skill to use.'

[Pickle POV]

'{friend}'

[Kuzan POV]

Pickle stopped in his attempt to charge, obviously understanding the words I had spoken directly to his heart.

I walked closer to him, slowly, while having to look up a bit in consideration for his 8' stature to look into his eyes.

We stood there, both of us, communicating one word at a time as my skill continued to evolve. With each passing second, I could talk clearer and clearer with the caveman, his eyes now showing love instead of hunger, at having finally found a familiar person in this strange new place.

'God damn it, that's why I wanted to be there to wake him up in the first place.'

Still, I hid my anger, not wanting to spoil the moment.

[Katsumi POV]

They just stood there, the caveman now not moving, as if frozen still in time.

That was until a single sound filled the arena.

"Groan..." the rumbling of that beast's stomach, hungry, reminding it of what it needed to do.

Unfortunately, instead of attacking the boy or continuing his meal, the caveman followed the boy out of the arena grounds.

[Kuzan POV]

"Groan," I could tell by the sounds, despite how happy he was at having met me, he was still starving, wanting to continue his meal.

'Sorry Retsu, look's like you'll keep your leg.'

I shook my head while prompting Pickle to follow me, wanting to give him a whole turkey instead of just a leg.

[Pickle POV]

"{he just hatchling, follow for mom}"

[Kuzan POV]

He followed me closely behind, even out into the open world, making sure to never lose track of me no matter what.

We walked peacefully, over to the gigantic warehouse I had had built specially to prepare his meal. 

They flicked on the lights to 'reveal' the great prize, a complete T-Rex, sitting fully in-tact on a literal plate that was still heating it, ready for it to be served. 

I could tell, if not by the tight hug that I received, then by the fervour with which he ate his meal, that Pickle was more grateful than words could express.

He ate, and ate, and ate, as I went to a separate room to carry over a catch of my own.

I had caught it by myself, on the way here, to prepare a gift for my first meeting with the man, thus causing me to be so late to the party.

I carried it, it's fully body intact, with one hand into the room in which Pickle was still eating.

Although it could not match up to his hunt, it was still a 'great' catch, serving as a good enough gift for the man to enjoy some new flavours.

He seemed appreciative of the gift that I had provided him, watching intently as I taught him his first modern skill, of how to properly butcher his catch with his hands.

[Pickle POV]

'{best friend}'

[Kuzan POV]

My hands served as knives and spears, cutting up the shark into digestible pieces, before we both ate it together.

He seemed so grateful in fact for my lesson and gift that he even shared some of his hunt with me, which I gladly devoured. 

'Tastes great.' I couldn't help but compliment the man on his choice of cuisine, still chewing the tuff meat, which was somewhat reminiscent of steak.

Still, I had one more surprise remaining for this new friend of mine.

I told him to follow me again once he had had his fill, leading him to the top of the tower that I was sure would soon become his new favourite spot soon if not already.

He could see it, stretching out before his eyes, the previous world he had left which was untouched by humanity before.

But I did not want him to have to imagine alone.

'Primordial Embrace'

I activated my skill in shadow boxing to let him view, 'for real', that he was not the only one to remember that time.

Although I was sure that I could not picture it perfectly, despite the information that I was able to dig up on it before, as well as what I had been able to infer by analysing Pickle, it seemed that the caveman didn't mind too much, not nitpicking the effort I had gone through.

Instead, he pulled me into an even deeper hug than the one before, refusing to let go until he felt like it.

[Pickle POV]

'{family}'