Laughter filled the air.

Inside a small bar hidden away from the rest of the world, rowdy men and women sang songs. Their faces flushed, twisted into carefree smiles as they bantered about and exchanged tales regarding their adventures and conquests. A little playful touch, some flirting, a few heated discussions. The night rang in a dissonance of many topics.

Inside of the bar, the interior gave an old but humble feel. Lathered wood flooring and ceilings. Couches and tables lay scattered across the room and a large counter sat at the middle of all things. Behind the counter was a library of liquor, of many colorful bottles. Some akin to spells in a bottle that may or may not conjure mystical effects.

At the middle of the shelves of alcohol and tonics behind the counter was an open room leading to a section hidden from the public.

Away from the tables, away from the customers drowning their livers with alcohol. A small twelve-year-old child ran in and out of the kitchen, serving plates of food. His hair short and spiky made snow pale in comparison to their color. The little child wore a cute little attire fit for the establishment, a waiter’s fancy attire.

A White long-sleeved collared shirt tucked underneath a black tuxedo vest. Topped off with a bow tie made the child look simply pure and adorable. Such is the case if others were to discredit or ignore his eyes. Pure white pupils and black sclera made the boy stand out and look demonic and eerie. His gaze always caught up in a disapproving frown labelled him as standoffish. Not that any of the people in the bar minded his expression.

“F’ckin hell…” Contrary to his prim and proper suit, the child’s choice of words were far from elegant. A curse followed by a snort reflected how he felt.

The object of the boy’s ire were two middle aged men scowling and shoving each other. One balding with the rest of his hair tied into a topknot at the back while the other truly bald. They both wore leather jackets and ripped jeans. Printed on the backs of the leather jackets were different symbols. One was a wolf and the other a skull with a flower on its left eye socket.

The white-haired child clicked his tongue and ran up to the two to break off the fight. “Oi oi oi! If yer gonna fight, take it outside! No fighting in the establishment!” The boy shouted. Eye twitching at the antics of the two rugged looking men.

People in the bar could get a little touchy or even rambunctiously noisy and the boy wouldn’t mind. He was one of the two barkeepers who kept watch, a job he took seriously other than serving food that come from the kitchen or fetching the noisy bar goers some drinks on the shelves.

But what he couldn’t tolerate was a fight breaking out inside the bar. The bar had rules after all. It accepts people from all walks of life as long as they had money to spare and were willing to be somewhat civil inside.

“You see those pots over there?” The boy pointed at the bottles filling up the shelves. So colorful and diverse were they that if they didn’t have a fancy bottle or labels on them, anyone would mistake them for lava lamps. “Each one of those bottles cost more than yer arm and yer leg! Break one and I swear yer spine will follow next!” Kai stomped his foot, face flushed red from anger.

A part of him wanted to strangle the two met but not yet. Not until they deserve it.

“Shut your mouth Kai!” The man with a Topknot poked the boy’s forehead. He took a step forwards and poked again, sending Kai staggering back. “Didn’t your parents teach you not to disturb in adult’s matters?” Topknot snarled at Kai.

Kai’s mouth parted into a gritted ticked off grin. A vein bulged on his head and he practically vibrated on the spot.

“Stay out of this brat. Tonight this man is going down with his jaw shattered!” The bald man wearing the wolf jacket growled.

“First and foremost, me parents died a long time ago you jackass! And second, I couldn’t care less about yer little enmity but rules are rules! Don’t force me to fucking toss you out of the bar!” Kai snapped back, his eyes narrowed furiously, seemingly affected by one of the two troublemaker’s remarks.

Despite the size difference, even though the two men could easily punch Kai asleep, Kai barked back undaunted by the possible consequences. As long as he was inside the bar he had nothing to fear. This was his territory after all, his home turf. One of the safest spots in the city.

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Whatever joyous mood the whole bar formerly held went right out of the window, replaced by tension as the rest of the inebriated drinkers hissed and cooed at the jacketed agitators.

A guy sitting on a couch surrounded by women laughed. “You heard that you punks? Kai motherfucking Hill is going to whoop your assess out of this establishment. So pipe the fuck down and don’t sour the mood!” He smirked and downed his drink.

Snickering, a passed-out woman from the corner of the bar woke up and jeered. “Hey baldy you might wanna move Topknot’s jaw reconstruction appointment from tonight to another day! You do not want to mess with this brat!” Her features were obscured by her hood, all except for her smug grin.

Nonetheless, all attention fell on the white eyed boy who disdainfully snorted. He usually hated attention, though particularly this time around, all that attention and support just felt so cathartic.

“Are you gonna sit or will I make you sit? Or do you want to go flying out of the door?” Kai took a step forward. To hell with fear. He only feared one thing and it wasn’t those two men before him.

The man with a topknot snorted. “Fuck it. Kid if I don’t sink your teeth in then I’m not leaving this place!” The imposing man cracked his fists and loomed over Kai, uncaring about the age difference and especially about his image.

The man drew back his arm into a fist. Muscles trembled and bulged out, enlarging much like an inflated balloon. The topknot man’s arm turned a shade red.

Kai inhaled then spat on the man’s eye. A critical hit.

The crowd snickered and laughed.

“YOU’RE GONNA DIE!” Topknot roared.

Before the man could punch the child, slime pooled out of the floorboards and ceiling. Brown slime lashed out like whips and bound the offending man. A horrible chill ran down everyone spine and even Kai shivered.

He shivered not in fear but in excitement. All anger washed away by a flood, he grinned.

“Gentlemen… Please be civil.” The tone was calm and pleasant but everyone who heard it couldn’t help but tense up.

Coming out of another room was a tall imposing figure. A lone glowing emerald eye hidden behind a white smiling mask stared at the bound struggling man. Just like Kai, the person towering seven feet tall whose large somewhat muscular build wore a similar bartender’s attire as Kai. From an outsider’s perspective, the child and the man seemed to be father and son. An assumption which wasn’t far from the truth.

“Old man what took you so long in the kitchen, I nearly got decked in the face!” Any anger he had in his heart, Kai discarded in favor of running up at the masked man and complaining. Like a son telling his dad about his bullies.

“OI Grant, your lil kid nearly got fucking smashed, you sure he’s supposed to be working here when he’s yapping and yipping around like a cute dog?” The man surrounded by women teased and his women all chuckled.

Kai’s attention snapped towards the blatant womanizer. “I’m not a cute dog!” He hissed and ran up to the man to start proving his point across. Only to be stopped by Grant clasping a hand on his shoulder.

The single eye behind Grant’s mask merely rolled its eye. “Impulsive as always huh Kai. You should be more patient.” Grant chided and patted the child’s head.

Kai stomped his foot. “He called me a cute mutt!”

“It’s a compliment and a lighthearted joke Kai. Now go say thank you.” Grant coaxed the white-haired boy. Kai shook his head and stomped off. “Horse shit! I’m goin to the kitchen! Orders number nineteen and twenty comin up!”

Grant shrugged and the bar resumed its course.

“Jimmy don’t tease Kai too much. He might really bite you.” Grant sighed at the sleazy looking man at one of the couches who merely shrugged back. “No promises bar owner, teasing the kid is just too fun!”

“That I can accept, just don’t go overboard.” Grant nodded at Jimmy who resumed drinking. “As for you my friend…” The masked man stared blankly at the bound man with a topknot.

By now the man had calmed down. Anxiety ate away at his nerves, all hidden underneath a mask of a serious expression. Many cast a glance at the unfortunate man and shook their heads out of pity.

No one threatens Grant Simmons’ kid and gets away easily.

“Get on the floor and do a plank, do not stop until I say so.” Grant patted the topknot wearing man’s head which in turn angered him. Fury bubbled within, the man’s face turned a shade of crimson and he roared.

“Fuck. Who do you think you are to tell me that?” Any logic, any sense of critical thinking, all of it were burned away by intense emotions. “I am Ogino Koshiro! A proud member of the Skull Rose gang, you cannot touch me!” Koshiro screeched.

Grant uncrossed his arm and flicked the Koshiro’s nose. “Can’t touch you? I just did.” The man shrugged, treating everything like an amusing joke.

“Fuck you!”

“You wish.” Grant flicked the gangster’s nose again.

“Goddamnit! Once I get out of these binds I wil-“

Koshiro was starting to get too noisy. So noisy the other bar-goers grumbled about it.

“I gave you a chance but you didn’t take it. Oh well.” Grant sighed. Turning to the rest of the people merrily drinking their sorrows away, he cleared his throat. “Everyone, close your eyes and block your ears.” The man warned.

Ogino Koshiro growled, his skin and body kept on bulking up after turning red yet he still couldn’t get rid of the slime covering his body. Glaring at his captor, the offensive man opened his mouth but ultimately found no words leaving, reality seemed sluggish.

‘W-W-What is happening?’ Koshiro couldn’t understand.

The world was still the same, everything was still the same except for that eerie stare Grant was giving him.

Suddenly his back became drenched with his own sweat. His body flushed up and he felt feverish and lightheaded. “You… What are you doing?” Koshiro trembled and struggled against his binds even more.

Grant said nothing. He just stood there, looming over the man and kept staring down at him. The sharp faintly glowing emerald eye stung the Koshiro’s mind. It felt like his soul was being judged and that the owner of that eye saw him nothing more than an ant.

Reflected in those emerald eyes, Koshiro saw his fate.

Multiple hands made out of brown viscous slime surrounded him. Before he could even cry out, the hands clamped down on the man.

Bones cracked, flesh and blood splattered inside the slime hands and some blood dripped down to the floor. The once arrogant man who thought he could solve everything with violence was reduced to a pile of unrecognizable gore.

Grant’s brown slime bubbled and rippled. They started flowing and sought out some blood that had stained the floor, absorbing them and cleaning the area. Grant’s lone eye silently turned to the side. Locking onto Koshiro’s former enemy. The wolf jacket wearing man paled and bowed his head before leaving the bar ultimately.

Grant hummed merrily as if he didn’t just kill a man in cold blood.

He dusted his hands. “That’s dealt with…” The brown slime receded into the nooks and crannies of the establishment. “Oh well, food and drinks are on the house tonight! My apologies for the disturbance my dear patrons!” Grant declared and entered the kitchen to check up on Kai.

“Yeargh!”

“You’re the best Grant!”

Everyone cheered. The night at the bar continued merrily. None questioned what happened and just drank, ate and laughed their sorrows away.

Laughter filled the air.