Chapter
4
A Decisive Dawn
An
indescribable darkness populated Benji's consciousness, everything inside his
head was spinning, and mysteriously he sensed that, although the images before
him seemed undeniably real, something was wrong. "Brother! Will you take
me to school?
And if
it's not too much trouble for you, I'd like you to pick me up at dismissal
time, too.
She, it was Hinata, but Benji doesn't remember
living that scene happening before him. He doesn't seem to hear himself respond
either, but Hinata looked happy as if she had received an affirmative answer.
Benji
looks around, he is in the Tigerlilly accompanied by Hinata and her mother,
Mikasa.
They both
look happy like they have never been before, their smiles light up the place,
as well as Benji's heart.
"Hinata,
your brother should save his energy for work, don't crowd him."
Mikasa, even scolding her daughter, seemed to
still feel very happy.
Benji
stood up and hugged them both. Some customers were arriving at the Tigerlilly
at that moment, and Benji, his mother, and sister welcomed the customers,
infecting them with happiness.
Unfortunately,
that happiness was nonexistent and could only have been a beautiful dream
created by Benji's fractured subconscious, as he had fallen victim to
exhaustion, sitting next to his sister in Kantou's central hospital...
Disoriented
and a little dazed, Benji finds it hard to focus on reality. However, the image
of Hinata Youn still asleep in front of him suddenly and forcefully brings back
the memories of what has happened and why he is there.
The
disfigured face of his sister once again fills Benji's heart with pain and
frustration, and he can only repress his desire for revenge by remembering the
promise he made to his mother before she left the hospital.
"Mother..."
says Benji, in a whisper to himself, with a slightly worried expression on his
face.
The boy
walks to the window and notices that night has already fallen in its entirety,
he looks at his cell phone and learns that it is 9:47 pm.
"Why will mom be taking so long?" he
asks himself, as he watches the outskirts of Kantou from the window frame.
Benji
turns to see Hinata asleep and decides he should go to the Tigerlilly. His
concern for his mother was starting to increase a bit.
"Hinata, I'm going to look for mom. It's
already a little late and I'm worried." Benji whispers those words to his
sister, just before giving her an affectionate kiss on the forehead.
The boy
leaves the hospital room but not before throwing a glance at Hinata and praying
internally that she wakes up soon and they can all go home together.
Benji
heads to the reception where he will announce that he will leave Hinata alone
to go find his mother.
"Is
everything in order?" asks the receptionist, as she notices strange
behavior on Benji's part.
"No,
my sister is unconscious in a hospital bed with a disfigured face, nothing is
right right now in my life.
But thank
you for asking." Without meeting the receptionist's eyes and with a swirl
of worries, intrigues, and frustrations affecting his mood, Benji answers that
question, just before leaving the hospital.
Suddenly
Inoku, his boss, crosses his path. Benji is not sure he feels well enough to
talk to him, but it is at that moment that he realizes that Inoku is apparently
not having a good time.
The old
man was staggering and in his possession was a bottle of rum. Benji undoubtedly
got similarities in Inoku's expression, which was similar to his own.
It was the
latter that prompted Benji to get Inoku's attention.
"Mr. Inoku..." said Benji, in an
attempt to raise his voice that didn't come out very well.
The older
man turned slowly and focused his gaze on his recent employee.
They
wereboth standing a block away from the hospital.
"Oh, hello, my boy... I'm sorry, as you
understand, I'm not in the mood even for a chat with you."
Replied
the old man, looking straight ahead again and continuing on his way. Benji
caught a glimpse of Inoku's bright eyes during the short time they watched each
other.
The old
man had been crying for an extended time. "Well the truth is, neither have
I.
They
attacked my sister, Mr. Inoku..." said Benji, standing on the same
sidewalk as Inoku, standing, watching as the old man stopped again, but this
time turned completely around.
"The
glory of God has forsaken us, Benji.
Forgive my
response earlier. As a human being myself, I tend to be ignorant and selfish.
Let us sit down." Inoku added.
At this
point, Benji questioned himself whether to sit and accompany Inoku or continue
on his way to the Tigerlilly.
Even
though his mom was a priority, Benji couldn't leave the man who is not only his
boss but also his friend, sitting on the sidewalk.
Silence
reigned for a few minutes before one of the two broke it.
"It
was Kantou's disciples, Mr. Inoku... They disfigured my sister's face and have
left her unconscious in a hospital room." Benji finally said, after a
couple of swigs of rum straight from the bottle.
"Do
you plan to answer them, boy?" asked Inoku, without looking at Benji. When
the latter mentioned the Disciples of Kantou, Inoku interrupted the trajectory
of the tip of the bottle to his mouth, lowered it, and asked that question.
"I
can't... I promised my mother.
I will not return to violence, I will not
solve my problems in any other way than through the right path and I am sure I
will find my reward for it along the way..."
Benji had
begun to express himself as Inoku watched him uncertainly.
"I
belonged to the Disciples of Kantou, Mr. Inoku... I was imprisoned for 3 years
of my life and have been released very recently.
I don't
need any more of that life, I don't need to get involved with them anymore
ever.
All I need
is my family, my pillar of support, and my light at the end of the tunnel.
My sister
Hinata, and my mother, Mikasa." Inoku rested his hand on Benji's shoulder
in support.
"You know, boy, I'm proud of you... At
your age, you've already gone to jail, and instead of taking that as an
experience to gain respect among that ball of delinquents, you take it for what
it really is, an obstacle overcome that gives you another chance to now do
well.
Be strong,
Benji." Inoku said, drawing a smile on Benji's face, a smile for which
Shoyo was most grateful, for he didn't think it possible to laugh at a time
like that.
Benji
immediately thought that with everything that was happening to him, he had not
asked Inoku what was the reason why he was letting off steam with that bottle
of rum.
But before
she could do so...
"Looks
like the Disciples of Kantou are working overtime these past few days, boy...
I hope the promise you made to your mother is
strong enough because, in addition to disfiguring your sister's face, they've
also put you out of a job. If it's any consolation, so am I..." Inoku said
without further ado.
The old
man seemed to have taken Benji's attitude and words as an example, and now
seemed calmer.
Benji,
upon hearing those words suffered a momentary shot of anger, which he was able
to calm down thanks to the previous words of Inoku, who had made mention of the
promise Benji had made to his mother.
"How did it happen?" asked Benji,
sighing deeply and long, evoking from the depths of his spirit serenity.
"Robbery...one
of the most experienced veins in the criminal arm of those cowards.
They took
everything... not only did I run out of tools, but now I owe my customers for
the spare parts that were in the workshop and also stolen by those sewer
rats." Inoku remained calm, but the lower eyelid of his left eye twitched
slightly each time he recalled more in detail the events that had transpired.
"I'll
help you pay for that, Mr. Inoku. You trusted me and gave me work without
knowing me..." replied Benji quickly.
Inoku
sighed, smiled, and stood up.
It had
begun to rain lightly "Easy, boy... a thousand anxieties are going around
in your head right now, too much for me to make you add a debt that doesn't
concern you. It was my workshop that those... boys stole.
Now stop
talking to this old man and go see your mother.
She needs
you and surely your sister too." Inoku said and, without further ado,
began to walk unsteadily until he disappeared into the sort of dark mist that
the light falling rain had formed.
Denjiro
has a bit of a hard time regaining track of time after Inoku is gone.
By the
time his thoughts are back in order, Denjiro stands up and starts walking
towards the Tigerlilly.
As he goes
on and the darkness of the street before his home embraces him, Benji feels his
heart getting smaller, he feels a kind of light suffocation and a terrible
bitter feeling in his stomach and throat.
*Something
is not right...*
that
thought hit his brain like the forehand of an experienced boxer and served as
an impulse, an impulse that made Benji start running without stopping, his eyes
wide open and he didn't stop until he was right in front of the Tigerlilly.
Once
there, he notices that the lights in the establishment are all off.
*Did she
come and go, did she come to the hospital? Impossible, he would have seen her
on the way, she always takes the same route.*
Benji
found it hard to calm down and stop thinking. When he did, he opened the doors
of the Tigerlilly and entered the establishment where darkness surrounded him
again.
*Could you
calm down?*
Looking
shaky, Benji argues with himself and after sighing in the darkness, manages to
calm down and turn on the light.
He was in
the main room of the Tigerlilly, the first thing his eyes saw was the light
switch, and next, the lifeless body of Mikasa Youn lying in the middle of the
living room of his establishment and home. Benji's expression for the first
second was neutral.
His brain
seemed to be in shock and was not registering the reality of what his eyes were
taking in.
His
reaction was changeable over the next few minutes. Benji's legs began to shake
where he stood and as he started to run in the direction of his mother, one of
them failed him and, falling to the ground sobbing he crawled until he could
make contact with his mother and confirm, with tear-filled eyes and an
expression of absolute terror, that she had indeed died.
"MOTHER!"
Benji lets out a piercing scream as he holds his mother's body in his hands.
He
eventually notices blood on his mother's right hand and the shock caused by
that horrific scene undergoes a considerable increase in panic and other mixed
feelings.
Benji does
not seem to believe his eyes and is constantly out of breath after sobbing and
screaming repeatedly.
The boy
looks exhausted, hurt, terrified, and most of all, helpless...
"WHY,
DAMN IT, WHY?
I had it all back...I had it all back...my
life...and now it's gone again."
Benji had
begun to vent through an energetic cry of frustration but had ended with a
pained, pitiful cry that was finally lost in a trickle of voice, as the boy
dropped his head onto his mother's abdomen.
It is at
that moment that Benji notices an out-of-the-ordinary object.
At first,
he paid no attention to it, but after a few minutes and upon closer inspection,
his expression began to change.
Benji stood up and went to the object, only to
realize that it was an earring and that he knew who it belonged to...
Benji
seemed to have run out of tears, instead, an expression of indescribable hatred
and anger filled his entire face.
Benji tightly tucked the earring into his pocket,
lifted his mother's body, and laid it on her bed, tucking her in up to her
throat and unable to stop the tears from starting to spill out of her eyes,
without her permission and without her expression of absolute seriousness
changing in the slightest.
"Good
evening...
My name is
Benji Shoyo and I would like to report a murder" Benji had made his way to
the Tigerlilly's living room where he called the police.
He then
sat down in the room, fixed his gaze on a fixed point, nothing special, and
waited until the police knocked on the front door.
The
uniformed men surrounded the area and began searching the house for
fingerprints and any other incriminating evidence.
Benji was in a state of insurmountable
bewilderment. He did not show the earring to the police, even when they began
to ask them questions.
"We
will continue with the case but you must understand that this takes time, okay?
From now on the investigations will not stop until we find the culprit."
Said the officer in charge of the
investigation into Mikasa Youn's death.
Benji
nodded without much enthusiasm and the police thought that this attitude was
only due to the boy's obvious grief over his mother's death.
And
indeed, it was due to that too, but the main reason for Benji's apathy was that
he already knew who the culprit was, and it would take the police a long time
to find out.
When they
had finally left, Benji returned to his mother's room, took one look at her,
and before bursting into tears once more, left the Tigerlilly with a hesitant
step.
The boy
began to kick the streets, it seemed that the soul had left his body and the
nocturnal dangers of Kantou were of no concern to him.
Benji's
destination was not to go to the hospital, in this case, the boy was heading to
the nearest liquor store to the Tigerlilly. In his pocket was some money, money
that reminded him of Inoku and the pain the old man was feeling.
*I wish I
could run into Mr. Inoku again...though I also wish I could disappear.*
Benji felt
his life no longer had any meaning.
"Hey,
kid, are you all right?" asked the liquor store owner, seeing Benji's
downcast and tragic face, as he handed him the alcohol.
Benji,
without making eye contact with him, just handed him the money and walked out
of there.
It was
well past midnight and Benji didn't seem to have a steady course.
He began
to wander the streets while taking prolonged swigs from his bottle. At a
certain point, Benji sat down on a sidewalk, looked up and a middle-aged woman
was walking hurriedly and nervously on the sidewalk in front of him.
A man was following her, Benji had no
intention, no courage, and even less energy to come to her aid.
The guy
got close enough to the woman even though she hurried her pace as fast as she
could. After stripping her of her purse and the necklace hanging from her neck,
the subject left the girl alone and ran away in a hurry.
The girl
collapsed on the ground and began to cry until a driver stopped and offered to
help her.
Benji
watched everything from a dark spot on the front sidewalk, seeing them moving
their lips but not catching what they were saying as the rain had picked up.
The car
started up along with the woman and no one noticed that Benji had witnessed
everything.
Shoyo was
having crying fits every few minutes. He had moved from the spot where he had
witnessed the robbery and a couple of streets down he collapsed to the ground
when he stepped wrongly on the sidewalk.
The
alcohol in his system was taking effect.
*Hinata...
mother...*
Benji's
thoughts were reduced to a constant reproach to himself where he blamed himself
for everything that had happened, including the robbery of the old man Inoku's
shop.
"Watch
where you're going, you miserable drunk..."
a
rough-looking fellow that Benji bumped into when he couldn't see him pushed
him, and once again, on another street, Benji fell to the ground again, not
caring too much.
This time,
Benji did not immediately get to his feet and instead, began to spin on the wet
sidewalk, crying and screaming without reservation, as the noise generated by
the rain falling on his body was more outrageous than his crying.
Dawn was
approaching, Benji did not know where he was and the loneliness of the area
made the situation seem like a scene of heartbreaking sadness that would stir
the feelings of even the most ruthless serial killer.
At the end
of that crying fit, Benji suddenly got up from the ground, disoriented and
drenched in water. He stood up, picked up his bottle, and continued walking
aimlessly.
The
darkness of deep midnight still embraced him. Finally, Benji decided to take
some shelter from the rain by entering an alley and reaching the bottom of it
without looking where in Kantou he was.
Once
there, with his eyes fixed on the ground and taking one more drink, the
memories continued to lash that desolate soul.
Whoever
looked at that boy at that moment, would never believe how happy that same boy
had been just a couple of days before.
The
excessive crying seemed to have emaciated his face in record time, he hadn't
eaten anything since he stepped foot in the hospital and his eyes seemed
minutes away from bursting due to the crying fits as well.
Benji
Shoyo had gotten it all, and all at once it had been taken away from him...
*Not only those bastards rot the roots of
Kantou, but others are following their path*
thought
Benji, remembering the heist he had witnessed.
The tears
begin to dry and the anger takes over Benji again, only this time it is a
little disturbed by the alcohol in his blood, which begins to have strong
consequences in his head.
Despite
the drunkenness, Benji channels his feelings and starts to give them order...
The
serenity that characterizes him, patience and calm...
Benji
begins to evoke these virtues from the depths of his beaten spirit.
Shoyo raises his gaze and one more surprise
hits the stability he was achieving. In front of him, just across the street
from the long narrow alley where Shoyo stood, stood the Kantou Disciples'
warehouse, Kitawari Saitama's hideout.
A flood of
the many beautiful memories Benji gleaned from his sister and mother standing
beside him in the Tigerlilly came flooding into his mind at a great speed,
tragic memories inevitably taking center stage as well. Benji, with difficulty,
struggles to his feet and glimpses a battered baseball bat leaning against one
of the alley walls.
Mikasa
serving tea with a side- to-side smile on her face, Hinata asking him with joy
and enthusiasm to look for her at school, Mikasa with an expression of
satisfied happiness giving him money so he can face his new job. Her job... Mr.
Inoku.
All the
memories that had held Denjiro upright and now absent reappeared in his head as
he walked awkwardly and uncertainly in the direction of the Kantou disciples'
warehouse.
"I'M
SORRY MOTHER, I'M SORRY FOR EVERYTHING THAT HAS HAPPENED AND I'M SORRY FOR NOT
BEING ABLE TO KEEP THE PROMISE I MADE TO YOU!"
Over
Kantou the dawn was falling, the representation of a new day. But for Denjiro
it meant something else.
Shoyo was
alone, desolate, and aimless, with a bat in his hands, his eyes lost and a goal
that he was not happy to fulfill, because it was a betrayal.