✧✦✧✦✧3rd person PoV✧✦✧✦✧✦✧

'It was very dark by the time I lost her...'

Ryu Akimoto remembered his past.

(I fell in love to an ordinary person. A person who is beautiful not just physically, but also emotionally, a person who would sacrifice everything just for the sake of others, a person who understands, and a person who accepted me for who I am.

Her name, was Yuna Arakaki.

I was a member of Kuroyami no Hoda when they found out that I have an affair with an ordinary woman. By the time I knew that they will eliminate the both of us, I quickly grabbed Yuna's hand and ran with her.

I explained everything to her, that a hoarder assassin like me is not allowed to have an affair with a non-hoarder. It is very restricted, and at the same time, execution is the punishment.

They will cut our head-off not just a means of removing disgraceful people from their society, but also to keep their society secret from the modern world.

I tried to fight and repel them off, but it wasn't enough...

They killed her by one of the men stabbing her from the back. I quickly raged as if my despair turns into anger. I fought and fought and fought again and again like a tireless berserk. I killed, stabbed, and slashed each and every one of them. Some got their head chopped-off, others were cut in the neck. I continued my every move and stances against them until one remained.

He tried to ran, however, I quickly grabbed him and pushed him to the ground while threatening him with my sword, "Tell everyone when you get back... That I will kill you all, and I will not spare a single one of you!"

He ran as quickly as he can, running in fear away from me. He should consider himself lucky. However, as a hoarder who failed his mission, it is considered bailing and hanging will be the punishment for it.

Meanwhile, I fell in despair when I saw Yuna again. She was just lying there, filled with her blood all around her...

'If only I'm not born a hoarder, maybe I will still have a happy ending with her, maybe we could've enjoyed life without hesitations. However, things like that doesn't exist, because this world has always been so cruel. So cruel that no matter how much we lived our life, we are still destined to die...')

Ryu Akimoto was spacing out as he drove Mari Ogawa to the hospital. However, it seems that Mari ran out of breath, and at the same time, her pulse just stopped.

Realizing it, as soon as he makes it to the hospital, he immediately rushed her to the emergency room. A group of nurse quickly assisted him.

Meanwhile, Eiji and the team followed as quickly as they can. They waited outside the room along with Ryu. However, Eiji is shaking as if he's trembling in fear, that Mari might die and that she may not make it.

Ryu saw him. So, he tried to calm him, "Stop trembling, kid. If she dies, she dies, but if she makes it, then we wouldn't have to worry. Either way, it's not our responsibility. We weren't even there when the accident happened."

However, Eiji still couldn't help but to worry, "But she is my schoolmate... I'm just worried, because after all, we weren't able to save them. It's just unfair, because by the time I was ambushed, I was saved, but for them? Ugh! I just got the feeling of regret..."

Toki was just listening at them, while also slowly getting irritated by Eiji, until finally, she snap out, "Just sit tight and calm down, will you!? It's not like we take full responsibility. Sometimes, there are people we can save, but there are others we cannot save too. Keep that in your mind!" Toki shouts at Eiji.

Eiji was surprised. She literally slapped him with words without getting slapped.

He breaths in and out after, calming himself down, while they patiently wait for the doctor.

It took around more than 30 minutes until the doctor finally arrives to tell them the news, "We... We couldn't save her... She ran out of breath and her pulse stopped beating. We did everything we can and she even tried to return, however, she still didn't make it. I am very sorry..."

Everyone was silenced. Eijiro felt a despair in his heart and decided to sit down. Meanwhile, Ryu suddenly got a phone call and immediately answered it. He left the place where they wait as he answered his phone call.

Shoto looked at him as he left to answer his phone. He was curious, but decided to forget about it since it's none of his concern.

"Hello?" Ryu asked.

An unknown voice of a female, suddenly replied, "You came late..."

"Oh, it's you. How come you didn't save them?"

"Tsk, I'm not a hero like you. Besides, I'm about to kill them when you suddenly came."

"So, you were just watching them get killed?"

"I have no desire to save them, after all, they take responsibility of having these keychains. My only intention is to kill the hoarders. Besides, sweet and clumsy-clingy couples like that should die in the first place. After all, they will not survive this cruel life..."

Ryu immediately got furious, "Why you--!"

The unknown caller suddenly hangs up the phone, and at the same time, Ryu was left, pissed.

A text message was then replied to him, "It's not like I didn't help them. It's just that things happened fast and the girl I saved attacked the hoarder, instead of running away..."

Ryu, calmly breaths in and out as he speaks to himself, "It seems that no one can really decide our fate, only ourselves."

Meanwhile, inside the hospital, the doctor asked Shoto, "Are any of you a relative of her? Based on her I.D, her name is Mari Ogawa. If none of you really know her, then please let me know."

"Nope. Me and my friends just saw her lying on the ground, full of blood, in an alley. Maybe she got kidnapped and stabbed when she tried to resist." Shoto replied.

"Got it. Thanks for taking her in. I will try to call her parents about this and the police for investigation."

"Ok, thanks."

Shoto and the team, then left the hospital.

By the time Ryu took Mari Ogawa to the hospital, Toki and Shoto burned the body of the two hoarders through a spell from their sword, called 'Incinerate'. So that they will not leave evidence of the hoarders. Meanwhile, their keychains were held by Shoto, so that he will give it to Ryu later.

It's what they do to every dead body of the hoarders. Because they believed that the risk of public knowing about these secrets is not only for the Hoarders of the Dark, but also to them who are involved, especially in the shops who innocently sells it. If the government knew about this, all of the people who are connected to these magical keychains, shall be in danger. Or so they thought.

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After they left the hospital, Ryu asked for a meeting in the parking lot, "We will storm a hoarder's shop tomorrow. Be prepared. I will not let these innocents die without vengeance, we must avenge them."

"Yeah! Even I wouldn't agree to do nothing especially after their death. They are innocent people!" Eiji excitedly replied.

Ryu hisses him, "Calm yourself, don't say it out loud here in public."

Toki, rolled her eyes down and sighed, "Here we go again. The hero wanna be, Eijiro..."

Eiji looked down and replied with a low tone, "Sorry, I just want to avenge them..."

"Let's have Shiro with us this time. Do you mean storming like raiding and not saving someone this time?" Shoto asked Ryu.

"I believe we must take action this time. Since you and your team doesn't have much idea of where do these hoarders hide, I will lead you there myself. However, if I have a mission to save someone, your team will be excluded, for I needed to get there myself as fast as I can. I don't want the same thing that happened today to other innocent people, again."

Shoto nods, "I agree. In that case, we will only help you in raiding and not by saving someone?"

"Sometimes, I cannot duplicate myself, so there might be a case where I'll call you to save someone as fast as you can. It just simply means assisting me."

"Mhm, I understand. I will try to get there as fast as I can, but I cannot promise that I'll get there in time."

"That's good enough, all I need is a cooperation."

Shoto nods. Ryu, then offered his hand for a shake and said, "I'll see you tomorrow. I'll come by at the shop and by the time I arrive, make sure everyone is ready. We have a time to race against."

They shook hands. Then, Shoto switches his look to Eiji, Toki, and Shiro, "You three heard it? Get ready before he arrives or else you will be left in the shop."

Eiji, Shiro, and Toki nodded.

After that, they said goodbyes to Ryu and hoped to see him tomorrow.

✧✦✧✦✧✦Eijiro's PoV✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦

It was a tiring day even though we didn't get to fight a hoarder. However, it seems like tomorrow will be the real fight.

The day after that night, it is finally morning, and at the same time, we're back in our business hours. Shoto told us to not give our everything in the work and that we must reserve our strength for the battle, later.

Normally, we close the shop at 20:00, but this time, we will close the shop at 18:00 to give ourselves enough time to prepare. As time passes, Shiro finally came, and at the same time, wearing his business attire. It seems like he was from work so he never had enough time to change his outfit.

Meanwhile, Toki changed her outfit from a normal waitress attire to a... Schoolgirl attire?? She is wearing her school attire and I had no idea why she is wearing that.

So, out of curiosity, I ask, "Hey, um... why are you in school attire..?"

"Oh, did Shoto forgot to tell you?"

Shoto, then came out without changing his attireーin which he wears his dark green vestーand replied, "We have to blend in with the people around, the normal person's attire. We are not like them, wherein they have a specialty on dark clothes. We are basically in disguise, unlike them."

It gave me idea on why they changed to normal people's attires. They are basically blending in with the society's clothes. They are pretty good. It just shows that they are practical and that the hoarders would probably not see them coming in disguise.

However, I have a curious question in my mind, 'If they will be in disguise, then does it mean Ryu will be in disguise, too?'

The time is exactly 20:00. We were at the back door of the shop, when suddenly, a roaring sound of a motorcycle engine, came. It was Ryu.

As soon as he arrives, he smirked and said, "Good, you are all in disguise. Take this, it will serve as our communication."

Ryu isn't disguised. I guess I was expecting too much. He then handed over a small device. It was a small chip whereas you must put inside an ear hole. He also gave us a pin, this pin will serve as our mini microphone, so that we will be able to talk to each other.

Sooner or later, we headed as quickly as we can. Me and Toki are inside of Shiro's car, while Shoto and Ryu resides on their motorcycle, individually.

Inside the car, we talked about our role. My role is that I am a kid of Shiro and that maybe Toki is my sister? Either way, we are in disguise as father and children.

Ryu said that we are almost close and that we must enter the restaurant to spy the hoarders. We must count how many are them, aside from the cooks. Because basically, we couldn't see the cooks since they are inside the cooking room.

We parked our car in a nearby parking lot. Meanwhile, Shoto and Ryu parked their motorcycles elsewhere.

Ryu then said to us, "Enter the restaurant now and count as many hoarders as you can. They are in their black jackets and coats, but they could also either be a waiter, a janitor, or a cashier. Just watch your surroundings and don't talk when someone is looking at you."

"Got it!" We chorus.

As we enter, it was a Chinese restaurant. The foods aren't my favorite. However, some dishes are already known to me.

Shiro said, "Just pick any food you want. I'll pay."

I felt hungry when I saw waiters and waitresses serve their dishes to the customers. I then ordered pork dumplings, spicy Chinese chicken and an ice tea as my beverage. On the other hand, Toki's orders were just fried noodles and a tea, and Shiro's orders were just dumplings and iced tea.

After serving, the foods were delicious. We tried to eat the food slowly, so that we can continue spying the hoarders. So far, we counted 10 hoarders, 5 waiters, 3 janitors and 2 cashiers. Their Chinese restaurant was big, but it seems that not all of the employees are hoarders. Some were just wearing their casual uniform.

As we reported it back to Ryu through our mini device, Ryu then said to meet us at the alley. He told us to leave now, because the store is about to close. It seems that we spent our time in the restaurant for an hour, "Get out of there now. They are about to close, so don't get caught suspiciously, ok? Just remain in your role as you leave the place, then just wait us in their alley."

"Got it. Alright kids, lets go home. Daddy still have work tomorrow." Shiro announced.

Toki replied lazily, "Yes daaad..." She bumps me, after.

"B-But, I'm not done, ugh... Fine, dad..."

We played our role very well.

Before we left the restaurant, they started cleaning and getting ready to put a close sign in the entrance.

We head as quickly as we can to their alley, but we found no one. We couldn't see Ryu and Shoto. I thought they were on the ground, when suddenly, Ryu whistled us from above, from a fire exit of a nearby building. We quickly headed there as fast as we can before the hoarders were about to go outside. Ryu's plan is to confront them in the alley, once all of the hoarders left the restaurant altogether.

"These hoarders always wait for each other whenever they close their restaurant" Ryu says.

"If you've been here before, why you asked us to count them when you could've counted them back then?" Toki asks.

"I did, but the last time I counted were around 16. I guess some of them are not workers, but rather visitors. I asked you to count them today, so that we will not fight them blindly."

Toki raised an eyebrow, "So, you got everything under your plan, huh? Hmm, I see..."

Ryu nodded, "Anyways, it's about time. I need you three to wait on the other side of the alley and come when I say so. Shoto will then go down to block their path. Only then we will start attacking them. Move now!"

We quickly head to our designated position. As we wait, their backdoor finally opened and there, the group of hoarders left the restaurant, and at the same time, saw us all.

They prepared their keychain weapons. Majority of them uses a katana, but some of them have spears and daggers. But we summoned our keychain weapons as well.

I have never seen Shiro's keychain before, until now. It was a long katana sword, longer than any katana I've seen and it's as long as Shoto's buster sword. I believed it was called an 'ōdachi'.

One of the hoarders, attacked Shoto, when suddenly, Ryu jumped from above and quickly sliced the hoarder in the loin as he stepped down to the ground.

The hoarders were surprised. Ryu, then started an introduction,

"We are all destined to die--" Then, Ryu pointed his sword at them."--But you will be the first..." Ryu looked at them with fierce look, making the hoarders tremble in fear.

But that fear does not last. It is slowly becoming a rage. As they're all about to start attacking one another, a red-haired guy, suddenly showed up, along with 13 more hoarders behind Toki, Shiro, and me. All of us were in shock, even the hoarders in between. It seems that our plan didn't turn out well...

The red-haired guy says, "I've been watching you, Eijiro... It seems that it's my chance to finally see you face-to-face. When I found out that you will raid a restaurant of ours, I quickly headed to see you and take my chances... Hahaha! Now I shall take all of your keychains!"

Startled, confused, and dumbfounded. I asked him with a grimace expression, "What!? Wh-Who are you?"

"Haha! It doesn't matter who I am. I will take all of your keychains anyways, and I'll be taking you too." He then winked at me.

I feel alarmed. I don't even know this guy.

I gulped shockingly, but Toki interrupt, "Come and get it, if you really dare..." She replied to him with dead-fish eyes.

He immediately switches his eyes to her and asks, "Hahaha! What would you do against us? It's 23 versus 5!"

Toki raised an eyebrow, "I can kill more than that. You probably knew Eijiro, but not me. Besides, my friend here with long katana can kill twice as much as mine. Do you really want to commit suicide?"

"Tsk!" He gnashed.

She smirked and looked at him with piercing eyes as if she was looking at him with intent, but then he did the same to her.

They were just staring with one another, waiting for the one who'll strike first. They just looked at each other with fierce looks, gnashing teeth, and sweating face.

I guess a battle is about to start...