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Chapter 1: The Voices I
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It's said that Water is colorless, odorless, and tasteless... Not to the throat that had been starved of it for years. To such a throat, it's akin to a divine wine whose taste is unlike anything they've ever tasted before.
That's how Akashi felt as he took a sip of muddy water. Only a single sip for it was enough for several hours.
Akashi couldn't afford to waste the water. It's too valuable. The only problem is, a week ago, a sip satiated him for several hours. Now, a sip can only satiate him for a couple of hours.
He realized that he was getting hungrier, and thirstier. He blinked, side-glancing at the body beside him.
Indeed, there was a dead body by his side though strangely, it seemed to be evaporating into some kind of energy that dissolved into the air.
"Fascinating, huh," Akashi murmured, "Have to wonder though, would people eat each other if it was possible around here?"
It wasn't possible, he knows very well... Somehow. And he knows the answer to that question, if people sometimes feel as hungry as he does, then they would definitely do so.
Fortunately, most souls seem to feel no hunger though Akashi noticed a peculiarity, most gang bosses around here do feel hunger and thirst.
"Unfortunate," Akashi muttered as he stood up, barefoot, and only wearing some rustic damaged clothes.
He walked away into a dark alleyway, walking long until he reached a small shabby courtyard.
There were few people around. Rarely does he ever see a soul wandering about.
There is no entertainment to be had around here. They don't need to eat or drink, so they just stay at home to rot and mold.
They know that if they go out, they'll become a target for gangs and even their neighbor. It's a lawless zone.
"B-Boss," The courtyard seemed to house many people, close to a dozen, and those were only the ones outside, seemingly transporting some products.
Akashi wasn't actually the boss of the gang. They just treat him as such because he's second to the big boss.
They also seem to fear him a lot, as demonstrated by the underlings closest to Akashi literally quivering in fear, not daring to even peek at him.
"Hm? You hear them? The voices," Akashi asked quite the strange question, adorning a frown on his handsome face.
They nodded hesitantly, to which he just shrugged and walked in, finally allowing them to relax, some seemingly so affected they had cold sweat running down their back.
For some strange reason, people near him start to hear voices, unspeakable voices he seldom hears.
Akashi's responsibility is mainly in organization and information control, which is why he climbed through the ranks so fast.
He looks through the products that arrive and documents them, mostly old rustic clothes like his, sometimes food and water.
They sell such things mostly for weapons and information. The only thing they do not sell is food and water, way too valuable and rare to be sold, and it's often that he starves for days because of the lack of it.
Water isn't as rare, but it's still uncommon, especially clean fresh water, almost impossible to find though he heard rumors that it's plentiful in some far away districts.
Soon, he walked out, letting out a yawn, "Kenji! Where is the boss?"
"Huh? He has yet to come back," It wasn't strange for the big boss to disappear for a day or two.
However, it soon became clear that the big boss didn't disappear of his own volition as days passed yet they heard nothing of him.
Akashi sent people to look for him, until a piece of information reached him, upon which he had to call back all of the gang members.
Thus the scene before him, around thirty individuals, people that either joined for protection or simply power and riches, seeking a better life.
Gangs in these areas are mostly united, like family, because they grew up in this shithole together, and they understand that to survive, they have to stick together.
"The Big Boss... He's dead," The quiet was broken, and heated discussions broke out, people hurling questions about, till Akashi's cold voice resounded, "Silence!"
"We know who did it, the same Gang that killed Isamu two weeks ago, the leader of the Crimson Gang... The perpetrators are the Three Brothers Gang," Akashi continued once silence prevailed.
He stood up before them, carrying a katana in his hand, "Apparently, they want to get rid of us... What are we ought to do?"
"Fight!" "Fight!" "Fight!!" "Fight!!"
Riling them up wasn't difficult for they respect the big boss quite a lot, and they weren't alone.
The Three Brothers Gang made themselves many enemies, including the Crimson Gang.
It was dark, yet their torches burned bright as they marched to the Three Brothers gang's headquarters, or more like, courtyard.
Soon, the gang was surrounded much to their dismay, "Why!? Why are you fucking doing this? I told you we didn't fucking kill Isamu!"
"Yet I heard that you boasted about taking over the entire district... Scared now? You may have more members than either of us, but with us combined, we will bring you down..."
Before the Crimson gang could respond, Akashi hijacked the conversation, his cold voice echoing about.
"Akashi!!!" You damn evil bastard!! We killed no one!" One of the brothers erupted with anger, "You must've done it, you bastard!"
"..." Akashi eyed him like a weirdo, "Are you stupid?" He shook his head before instructing loudly, "Burn the place down!!"
The entire district, and basically all districts are built in classic Japanese style which is known for its wooden structures, thus holding the place down was no option.
Akashi made sure of it as his people started throwing fiery torches at the courtyard, burning arrows following right after.
"Damn you!! Don't think we're afraid of you!!" The battle started. It was eerie, how the battle went.
Many of the Crimson gang died while few of Akashi's died, largely due to the latter.
The Three Brothers gang seemed to avoid Akashi. Hell, even his people tended to keep their distance from him, as was his instructions.
There is a reason... The voices. Those who try to fight him simply can not concentrate for even being near him means hearing those unspeakable voices.
Otherwise, Akashi's swordsmanship is average at best, yet when they face him, they turn worse than him.
It was weird how they seemed so defenseless against him, like cattle for slaughter.
He didn't escape unscathed, however, as two of the three brothers targeted him, and one of them was a special soul like him, very resistant to the Voices.
It is only in moments like those that Akashi hears the voices. They're his demonic guardians.
The Voices... They've helped him survive in this godforsaken place, but he still doesn't understand them for when he hears them, he blacks out.
When he woke up, he found himself on one knee, bleeding from several parts of his body.
In fact, he looks as if he showered in blood. The majority of that blood wasn't his, it was of the bodies scattered about, looking as if they'd been butchered through by a monster.
He stood up in a daze and looked about, eyes of fear and awe staring at him, some keeping their eyes down, "Clean up." He instructed.
"B-Boss... We're weak now... Can we join you?" Strangely, the one who took the courage to speak was a member of the Crimson gang, speaking in a low tone as he requested.
"Of course, we should unite, grow, and spread outside," Akashi let out a faint smile as he reached out with his dripping bloody hand, awaiting a handshake.
He won. In the course of only a few months, he went from a nobody to the vice leader of the gang, then in a mere two weeks, he rose to rule over an entire district.
Lady Luck must've taken pity on him, allowing him to get rid of the competition and absorb the last remaining big gang in the district.
It all seemed so natural, but often, if something is too good to be true, then it probably is.
The reality is that Akashi served as a double agent, making the leader of the Crimson gang Isamu, believe that he's working with him.
In fact, he simply deceived him into a trap where he and the big boss ambushed him, killing Isamu... Then Akashi killed the big boss and blamed it all on a third party.
It's the result of months of hard work and manipulation, but maybe he was a bit too good at it for sometimes, he felt like the big boss wanted him gone.
He was afraid of him for several reasons, the most pressing one must've been Akashi's influence and charisma. The big boss must've felt like Akashi threatened his position of power.
Yeah, yeah... That's why Akashi did what he did. That and the Voices. That's definitely it, right?
Akashi raised his bloody hand, blood dripping from it, then dissolving into the air. Even the blood that he had bled was evaporating.
This world, it's fast to take everything away from you... This familiar world, 'If this is indeed the World I believe it is, then my destination should be Soul Society... Only there can I finally understand them... The Voices.'