Chapter 15: How to Start a Gang and Lose at Othello
(From the Journal of Ren Kisaragi, Future Local Gang Lord and Possible Othello Champion)
You know those days where everything seems fine—birds are chirping, the sun is shining, and your friend hasn't accidentally explained how organized crime can erase your existence like an embarrassing search history?
Yeah.
That was not today.
"Kaito, you need to be careful about this stuff," Haruki said in his super-serious voice. The one he used whenever he was about to dump enough terrifying information on me to ruin an otherwise perfectly good afternoon. "Street gangs are one thing, but actual organized crime is completely different. If you accidentally get involved with the wrong people, you can get into really serious trouble."
I blinked.
"Okay, first, that's not helping my anxiety. Second, why do you know so much about this?"
Turns out Haruki's room was basically a martial-arts nerd's paradise with a suspicious side interest in crime books.
Books about famous gangs.
Books about organized crime.
Books about martial arts organizations.
Probably a hidden notebook somewhere titled People I Absolutely Do Not Want to Meet in a Dark Alley.
I'd asked one innocent question about gangs after my little encounter with Hermes and the Shadow Gang, and somehow I was now getting a full lecture on the difference between school delinquents, street gangs, professional criminals, and people you absolutely did not annoy unless you wanted your life to become significantly shorter.
Haruki was even ordering more books.
Because I showed interest.
What kind of nerdy monster had I created?
I tried to listen.
Really.
I did.
But halfway through some story about a shop owner getting caught between two criminal groups—which honestly sounded suspiciously like the plot of a television drama—my brain started wandering.
I wasn't particularly scared for myself.
Well.
That wasn't entirely true.
If I had my real body, Ki, and the strength of a Foundation Establishment cultivator, a group of normal criminals wouldn't exactly keep me awake at night.
But I didn't.
I had Kaito's body.
A body that now came with sore muscles, homework, bandages on my back, and the depressing discovery that getting shot with rubber bullets actually hurt a lot.
And more importantly...
I was worried about them.
Haruki.
Hana.
Kaito's parents.
The people at Shinomiya Dojo.
This strange little life I'd accidentally fallen into.
If my fight with the Shadow Gang caused trouble for them, that would be my fault.
I couldn't allow that.
My eyes wandered around Haruki's room until they landed on a poster wedged between two martial-arts charts.
Katekyo Hitman Reborn!
A mafia anime.
I stared at it.
Then something clicked.
Something magnificent.
Something visionary.
Something...
probably extremely stupid.
"I could make my own gang," I whispered.
Haruki slowly looked at me.
"If I control the area, then nobody can cause trouble for the people around me."
Silence.
Yes.
That was it.
A local organization.
People who looked after each other.
Enough strength that idiots like Hermes thought twice before attacking someone.
I'd be the boss.
Protect the neighborhood.
Set rules.
Stop random bullying.
Maybe even get matching jackets.
This plan was getting better by the second.
"Kaito," Haruki said cautiously, in the tone of someone approaching a suspicious explosive, "what are you thinking?"
I turned toward him with what I assumed was a perfectly innocent smile.
Haruki immediately looked more worried.
"Nothing."
"That smile means something."
"I was just thinking we should make more friends."
He narrowed his eyes.
"So we can hang out," I continued.
Still narrowing.
"Play games."
More narrowing.
"Maybe establish a small territorial organization based around mutual protection."
"Kaito."
"Fine. Mostly the first three."
Translation:
Recruitment begins tomorrow.
Before Haruki could interrogate me further, his bedroom door flew open.
"Haru-nii! Let's play!"
Hana charged into the room like a sugar-powered missile and launched herself onto the bed with absolutely no concern for personal space, organized crime, or my developing plans for neighborhood domination.
Honestly?
She was adorable.
Tiny.
Energetic.
Dangerously competitive.
And somehow already smarter than both of us combined.
She was like the little sister I'd never had.
"Come, demon," I declared, pointing dramatically toward the Othello board. "Today I shall finally defeat you."
Hana gasped and put a hand over her heart.
"Oh, brave hero. You shall know defeat once again!"
"You mock me?"
"I state facts."
"Prepare yourself!"
She dove onto the bed like a warrior charging into battle.
Haruki sighed and sat beside us.
"I'm next."
We played.
We yelled.
Hana accused me of being blind.
I accused Hana of secretly being a Sage of Board Games.
I lost.
Then I demanded a rematch.
I lost again.
I considered claiming I'd let her win.
Nobody would have believed me.
For a little while, though, I forgot about Hermes.
The Shadow Gang.
The strange voice inside Fivefold Ascension.
The possibility of actual criminal organizations existing somewhere beyond these stupid student turf wars.
It was just us.
Three people.
One board.
And an increasingly humiliating number of white discs covering territory that had once belonged to me.
Haruki watched Hana celebrate her victory while I stared at the board in betrayal.
Maybe this was what I wanted to protect.
Not territory.
Not pride.
Not some stupid title.
This.
Normal afternoons.
Friends.
People who could laugh without worrying whether someone stronger was going to come along and take everything away.
I was Ren Kisaragi.
A disciple of the Veiled Moon Sect.
A Foundation Establishment cultivator.
The Vessel of Ballom, Master of Death.
And apparently...
future king of the local delinquents.
Assuming I could first defeat an elementary-school girl at Othello.
---------------------
Some conversations start normally.
What's for dinner?
What are we training tomorrow?
Do you think Master Jin will notice if I hide in the forest for three days?
This was not one of those conversations.
Kaito and I were sitting on a massive branch of the enormous tree inside our shared dream world.
Clouds stretched beneath us like an endless white ocean. The distant palace floated silently between mountain peaks, and for once Yunhai Tianren was nowhere around.
Just me and Kaito.
In our own bodies.
Which was still weird.
Kaito looked down at himself—meaning my body—then over at me.
"So you're telling me I might come home and discover I'm a gang boss?"
I tilted my head.
"Maybe."
His eyes widened.
"Bro."
"What?"
"That is awesome."
He jumped to his feet on the branch.
"I'll walk into school like—" He straightened his back and lowered his voice dramatically. "'You fools. While you were studying, I was building an empire.'"
I laughed.
"That's not what I'm doing."
"That's exactly what you're doing!"
"It's a small gang."
"An empire starts somewhere."
"Kaito."
"Boss Kaito."
"Kaito."
"Don Kaito."
"I'm throwing you out of the tree."
He sat down again, grinning.
"Still. That's cool. I never imagined I'd come back to Earth with street reputation."
"I haven't even started anything yet."
"Details."
I shook my head.
"I'll try not to get your body arrested while you're enjoying mine."
Kaito immediately looked down at his hands.
Then grinned.
"Speaking of which... bro, your body is ridiculous."
I sighed.
Here we go.
"No, seriously." He flexed my arm. "Do you understand how unfair this is? I can run for hours. Normal exercises barely do anything. I can jump farther than cars. I punched a tree yesterday and the tree lost."
"You weren't supposed to punch the tree."
"I needed data."
"You wanted to punch a tree."
"I also acquired data."
I couldn't argue with that logic because I had used it myself.
Kaito leaned back against the trunk.
"And Shadow Clones? Those things are amazing."
"They're useful."
"Useful? Ren, I can have ten of me studying different things at once!"
"And then receive ten sets of memories at the same time."
His expression immediately soured.
"Yeah. That part sucks."
"Told you."
"The headache yesterday made me see sounds."
I stared at him.
"Reduce the number."
"No."
"Kaito."
"Efficiency demands sacrifice."
"You collapsed."
"Efficiency demands some sacrifice."
I laughed.
The clones weren't some magical shortcut that gave him months of effortless training every day. His mind could only process so much experience before everything started blending together.
But even with five or six clones working comfortably?
He was learning ridiculously fast compared to one person training alone.
Ki control.
Shadow manipulation.
Sect theory.
Stealth.
Movement.
Basic formations.
All while Master Jin and the others watched him like hawks.
Kaito stretched his arms overhead.
"I swear, by the time we switch back, I'm going to be amazing."
"How amazing?"
He grinned.
"I'll become emperor of the continent."
I stared at him.
"You're going to what?"
"Emperor."
"Kaito, there are Spirit Transformation cultivators on that continent."
"I have ambition."
"There are Sages."
"I have Shadow Clones."
"There are Ancient Sects."
He paused.
"Okay. Emperor might be a long-term project."
"Very long-term."
"But you have no idea how cool this is! Back home I was just... me."
His voice changed slightly.
Not enough to lose the smile.
Enough for me to notice.
He looked at my hands again.
"Here, I can actually do things. Every day I learn something impossible. I wake up and there's another technique, another lesson, another thing this body can do."
He clenched his fist.
"I've never felt like I could become... something before."
That shut me up.
Because I understood.
Probably better than he realized.
Power changed the way the world looked.
The first time you realized your future wasn't fixed...
The first time you discovered you could become more than what everyone expected...
It was intoxicating.
Which was exactly why it was dangerous.
"Just don't let it get to your head," I said.
Kaito looked over.
"My body is strong. You're not invincible."
"I know."
"No, seriously. There are people back home who could kill you before you understood there was a fight."
His grin weakened.
"Spirit Transformation?"
"For starters."
"Oh."
"And if you somehow annoy a Sage, I am personally coming back across universes just to kill you myself."
"That seems unnecessary."
"Then don't annoy a Sage."
"Reasonable."
We sat quietly for a little while.
Wind moved through the enormous leaves above us.
Kaito finally sighed.
"You know what the weird part is?"
"What?"
"I think I'm having fun."
I glanced at him.
He looked out over the clouds.
"Training sucks. Jin is terrifying. Daichi is clinically insane. My brain keeps melting from Shadow Clone memories, and something inside your body definitely hates me."
Ballom.
Definitely Ballom.
"But..." Kaito continued, "I've never had anything like this before. Something huge to work toward. It's kind of freeing."
I smiled slightly.
"Earth's been like that for me."
"Huh?"
"No Sect missions. No Kyo. No Ballom whispering in my head whenever things go wrong. No one expecting me to be anything."
I looked toward the distant palace.
"I can just train because I want to. Learn stupid video-game kicks. Lose at Othello. Help Haruki get stronger."
Kaito snorted.
"You're starting a gang."
"A protective gang."
"That's what every future crime lord says."
"I hate you."
"Love you too, bro."
Silence settled again.
Comfortable this time.
Then Kaito suddenly straightened.
"Oh! Speaking of criminal empires."
"No."
"We need a gang name."
"We?"
"It's my body. I get naming rights."
"You aren't even there!"
"Joint custody."
I rubbed my forehead.
"Fine. What have you got?"
His face brightened.
"The Nine Blades."
I stared at him.
He waited.
"That sounds like nine guys who got lost on their way to a fantasy convention."
Kaito looked offended.
"It sounds dangerous!"
"It sounds like you all carry decorative swords."
"Okay, fine. Work in progress."
He crossed his arms.
"But we're getting jackets."
"No."
"Matching jackets."
"No."
"Embroidered matching jackets."
"Kaito."
"Non-negotiable."
I sighed.
He grinned.
"And mine needs a lion."
I raised an eyebrow.
"Why a lion?"
Kaito shrugged.
"No idea. Just feels right."
Somewhere very far away, within the spiritual depths of Kaito Hoshino's body, a pair of radiant eyes opened.
And Vhalor, the Radiant Sovereign, wondered whether that had been a coincidence.
----------------------------
Sometimes, you just want a peaceful afternoon.
Sit on a tree. Talk about dreams. Maybe argue about anime. Maybe enjoy five whole minutes without somebody trying to kill you, train you, manipulate your destiny, or convince you to conquer a continent.
But nope.
That's not how Ren Kisaragi and Kaito "Let's Make This a Terrible Idea" Hoshino operated.
It started with one harmless sentence.
"Hmm… I guess so." I hopped down from the branch and grinned. "Wanna fight?"
And just like that, the peaceful afternoon died.
Kaito cracked his knuckles.
Then his neck.
Then somehow managed to produce a growl dramatic enough for a final boss.
"Bro, let me apologize in advance," he said, dropping into a stance, "but you will be tasting dirt when we're done."
The dramatic energy was strong with this one.
I laughed.
"Kaito, I've been training since I was a kid. A few days with Master Jin and some Shadow Clone practice doesn't suddenly make you a martial-arts master."
He didn't answer.
He just grinned.
Okay.
I could respect that.
Since we were inside the shared dream realm, there wasn't much reason to worry about injuries. Whatever power controlled this place restored us after fights, and our physical abilities were brought close enough together that neither of us could simply win through raw strength.
Which meant technique mattered.
Pain was still real, though.
Very real.
I knew because Kaito had kicked me in the shin yesterday.
I was still emotionally offended.
I leaned forward.
He raised his guard.
Then I moved.
Low.
Fast.
Instead of charging straight at him, I dropped almost to the ground, slid beneath his first punch, caught his ankle, and twisted.
"AGH—FUCK!"
Kaito hit the ground like a sack of potatoes.
"Language."
"YOU JUST TRIED TO REMOVE MY LEG!"
"Technique."
Before he could recover, I jumped onto the trunk of the enormous tree, sprinted several steps upward, kicked off, and came crashing back down with my knee aimed directly at him.
"CANNON STRIKE!"
It sounded cooler in my head.
Kaito rolled half a second too late.
CRACK!
"AAAAAGH!"
He flattened against the grass like a broken puppet.
I landed beside him.
"You alive?"
Kaito made a noise that sounded vaguely insulting.
"Good enough."
I walked away while the dream realm started repairing whatever terrible things I'd just done to his spine.
That was another advantage of this place.
You could experiment.
Normally, practicing a new combat technique on your friend and accidentally breaking his back would be considered bad friendship.
Here?
Educational opportunity.
While Kaito rebooted, I created one Shadow Clone.
The black silhouette rose from my shadow and stood beside me.
"Okay," I muttered. "Again."
I extended my hand.
Darkness gathered above my palm.
Not a normal shadow.
Compressed Ki.
Dense.
Rotating.
I had been experimenting with condensing darkness into something I could fire instead of constantly relying on close-range attacks or techniques that needed shadows already touching the enemy.
The sphere formed.
Wobbled.
My clone helped stabilize it.
"There."
I threw it.
The black sphere streaked forward—
WHUMP!
—and blew a crater into the ground.
Smoke and fragments of dream-soil scattered everywhere.
I stared.
My clone stared.
"Effective."
The clone nodded.
"But not cool enough."
The clone slowly looked at me.
"Don't judge me."
It didn't have a face.
Somehow I still felt judged.
I dismissed it and held up my hand again.
"I want to shoot it."
I pointed my fingers like a gun.
"Something like—pew."
Nothing happened.
"Or maybe…"
I pushed Ki toward my palm.
Darkness gathered.
Compressed.
Then—
PFFT.
A tiny cloud of black mist escaped my hand.
I stared at it.
"…Seriously?"
I tried again.
"Come on. Beam. Projectile. Lance. Anything."
Pfft.
"Why is Ki like this?!"
Apparently the universe had decided that becoming a living artillery weapon required slightly more effort than saying pew.
Who knew?
Then—
WHAM!
A fist slammed straight into my cheek.
"WHA—?!"
I went flying into a bush.
Branches exploded around me.
I rolled, kicked off the ground, and came back up immediately.
"Kaito!"
He stood several meters away.
Grinning.
But something was wrong.
His arm stretched from where he stood all the way to where I'd been.
Except—
It wasn't actually his arm.
Blackness covered it.
A long sheath of living shadow extended from his fist like a flexible limb, connecting back to the shadow beneath his feet.
My mouth dropped open.
"What the hell did you just do?!"
Kaito retracted it.
The darkness snapped back around his arm.
He looked incredibly pleased with himself.
"Pretty cool, right?"
I stared.
That was basically Shadow Grip.
Except instead of making hands rise from someone else's shadow, he'd wrapped his own shadow around his arm and extended it.
"You changed Shadow Grip."
"Yep."
"How?"
"Beat me again and I'll tell you."
I narrowed my eyes.
"You've had my body for less than two weeks."
"And?"
"I spent years learning those Arts!"
"Sounds like a skill issue."
My eyebrow twitched.
"Oh, you're dead."
"Can't die here!"
"THEN I'LL KILL YOU REPEATEDLY!"
Kaito laughed and threw another punch.
His shadow-arm shot forward.
I barely leaned aside before the fist sailed past my head.
"HA!"
Another came from the opposite direction.
I ducked.
Then another.
And another.
Kaito started swinging both arms wildly, shadows stretching them several meters across the clearing.
"SHADOW GOMU-GOMU BARRAGE!"
"THAT IS NOT WHAT IT'S CALLED!"
"IT IS NOW!"
Fists started raining toward me.
I dove behind the tree.
BAM! BAM! BAM!
Shadow-covered fists hammered into the trunk.
"STOP COPYING ANIME POWERS!"
"NEVER!"
I peeked around the tree.
Kaito immediately fired another stretched punch at my face.
I ducked back.
"You know that's not how Shadow Grip is supposed to work!"
"Then maybe your Sect needs more anime!"
I stared at the enormous tree separating us.
Then slowly smiled.
Fine.
If Kaito wanted to get creative with my Arts...
Darkness gathered around my feet.
"Hey, Kaito?"
The punching stopped.
"Yeah?"
"Good idea."
There was a pause.
"…Why did you say that like a villain?"
My shadow spread across the ground.
Kaito looked down.
"Oh."
Dozens of black hands erupted beneath him.
"OH, COME ON!"
I stepped out from behind the tree with the biggest grin I'd worn all day.
"Welcome to the Veiled Moon Sect, bro."