Katsu just woke up and with a bandage on his head, he reassesses himself on the events and reads the notes left by vin, on the note, it tells katsu what to do while vin is gone.

Katsu stands up slowly, his wound still hurts, and he looks around the room, struggling to focus as everything seem to spin uncontrollably.

“Everything happened so fast, it never gave me any time to think about what had happened.” A voice narrates.

Katsu takes 3 deep breaths.

Stands up, gets some water, and drinks it.

Finally, after everything that has happened to him, he is ready to take action.

Moving carefully, he opens several drawers, his wound still hurts.

He grabs a shirt and puts it on, he wore a small coat and hides his bandages with a hat and some parts of his hair.

While he was searching and looking, a man opened the door and stepped inside, with a deep, somewhat scary, and manly voice, he spoke.

“Hey, child! What are you doing!?”

Startled, katsu falls.

“Tch, get up… you should expect the unexpected!” He shouted.

Katsu cautiously gets up and asked, “W-who are you, sir?”

The man proceeds to ignore him and instead smokes a cigarette.

Katsu reiterated, “What’s your name sir? And-”

“Speak louder!” the man responded.

Katsu repeated but with a louder tone, “who are you, and what are you doing here??”

The man smokes and then responded, “I’m a bounty hunter paid by a gang to watch over you so that you don’t tell the police of what had happened. So, back to my question. what are you doing?”

“I was looking for some clothes to wear,” Katsu responded.

The bounty hunter sighs, “well don’t go doing sum stuff that I wouldn’t want ya to do.”

He turns to leave but katsu stopped him to ask.

“what’s your name sir?”

“Does it matter? Well, the names Von.”

“Von, nice to meet you, I’m Katsuro Everest,” Katsu acknowledged with a smile.

“Sheesh, paying me thousands just to watch over a child, what a waste of time” the bounty hunter mumbled as he left the room.

Katsu continues to change.

Katsu, although experienced a traumatic incident, is devoid from any form of urgency, and takes time doing things without worrying about the situation.

He stops thinking about what happened and focuses more on following the notes left by vin.

Katsu remembered that Vin said he’d need help from Bon, as a good friend of Vin, they’d been planning if something like this were to happen.

“At least that's what I thought.” A voice added.

The letter contained another letter, Vin instructs Him to bring the letter to Bon and strictly said to follow Bon’s instructions.

Katsu looks at himself in the mirror.

Looking at himself, he sees that he has grown, and is now ready to help someone he deeply cares about.

“Looks like I’m ready, time to go to Bon’s place.”

He leaves the messy room and locks the door; he makes his way downstairs but is stopped by Von leaning beside the stairs.

“Hey child, where are you going?” Von asks.

Quickly thinking of an alibi to not attract the Bounty Hunter.

“Umm…. Going out to shop for some food.” He nervously responded.

“Well, then I’m going with you.”

“Well… you don’t have to”

“I INSIST” he cuts him off

But he fails anyway.

The man joins Katsu as they walk down the long empty road, lightly illuminated by the sunrise.

Katsu starts sweating, his hand gets cold in the chilly morning.

“I need to think of a way to stop him from following me.” He thought.

“Hey kid!” the man yelled.

“we’re just going around in circles, where are you going!?” He questioned katsu’s alibi.

“Umm… we’re close, almost there, Hehe.” He says, sweat dripping down his face.

Entering the commercial district, crowds of people are packed in the streets, stalls and shops are everywhere.

As rays of sun barely passes through the district’s skyline.

On the morning of a hot and busy autumn day, many shops offer large discounts to make their shops more popular, and people stampede to these shops in the thousands, getting there first while there’s still stock is why the large number of people flock to the commercial district in early mornings.

This fact gave katsu an idea.

Passing by a jewelry store; katsu loudly shouted “All jewelry is 50 percent off!!!”

Hundreds start to flock to the store within seconds, overwhelming the bounty hunter.

Realizing what katsu had done, he turns to him but is quickly swept by the massive amount of people trying to rush towards the store.

“Why you! Come back here kid!!” the bounty hunter shouted, and tries to catch up to katsu.

Katsu slipped through the crowd.

“See ya!” katsu taunted the bounty hunter.

But the man grabbed katsu’s hand before he could run.

“Gotcha! You ain’t escaping me!!”

“Let me go!” katsu resisted.

“Tch, stop resisting!”

But as the crowd gets bigger, more and more people bump into them.

He slowly loses his grip and eventually lets go of Katsu.

Katsu immediately dashes away from the mob of avaricious people.

“Come back here! Don’t let me lose my money!!” the bounty hunter yelled, as he gets lost in the crowd.

Katsu hastily runs away, not looking back.

The faster he runs, the more his body begins to ache.

With each step, he remembers when he was running toward his house leaving the destruction behind him.

And now, he is running once again.

He passes familiar landmarks and soon arrives at Bon’s store.

He swings the door open. And the familiar bell rings…

Bon turns around while cleaning some mugs.

“Ah, monsieur how is you doing-”

Bon was suddenly alarmed when he saw katsu bandaged up and panting heavily, dropping the pricey mug, and shattering it.

“Katsu what, what happened! What’s wrong!?”

Katsu walks up to the counter, heavily breathing, and handed him the note.

“Monsieur, w-what’s this?”

“Vin told me to give this to you.”

“Vin… I see…”

Bon opens the letter up, and katsu sits down and rests.

As bon starts to read the letter.

While reading it, his teeth start to grind on each other, he grips the paper and crumples the sides.

He continues, then, his face changed, his face was shocked, the letter had something shocking to tell Bon.

Bon gasps and then he slams the table, and shouted, “VIN!!!! THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE!!!”

“Wait- What!? Bon, what’s wrong? What did the letter say!?”

Bon gulps and fell silent, deliberating if he would tell katsu.

“What is it, Bon?? What did it say?” katsu persists.

“Katsu, here’s… wait-”

Bon suddenly stops and drops the letter.

And in a split second, his facial expressions changed once again.

This time, his face was filled with anger and rage.

He yelled and ordered katsu to “GET DOWN QUICK!!”

He grabs katsu and throws him out of the way.

A bullet slightly scratches Bon’s face and hits the shelf behind him.

A loud bang and the windows shattering echoed in katsu’s mind; he still can’t stop remembering his past.

“Oh, Kid! WHERE ARE YOU! I KNOW YOU’RE HERE!” the bounty hunter calls out.

He enters the store with his rifle.

panic and chaos ensue outside, with hundreds of people running and screaming.

Bon immediately pulls the emergency lever, grabs his gun from under the counter, and loads it.

He comes out from behind the counter and fires back.

Von steps to the side and missed by hair’s breadth.

Von chuckles and faces Bon with eyes filled with killing intent.

“Your aim is as lousy as ever!!” Von criticizing Bon

The two had a face-off, the scene was so tense, that the store’s temperature rose by 2 degrees!

A gunfight ensues, and with each loud bang, katsu gets reminded of the past.

Katsu hides behind the store shelves, covering his mouth, and is shaking profusely.

With each loud bang, tears fall, katsu shakes and shivers, and he can’t move his body.

Then, a voice whispers, “Do you want history to repeat itself?”

Time begins to slow…

His vision is blurry, he starts brushing away his tears, and he begins to muster up all of his strength and confidence.

“You must fight for what you want. And protect the ones you love.” The voice whispered

Katsu jolted back up, and the smell of gunpowder fills the store.

Katsu peaks over the shelves, and he sees Bon, slightly wounded, fiddling with his rifle hiding behind the counter filled with bullet holes.

He’s out of ammo.

“What’s wrong bon!? Are ya out of ammo? You always forget the most important rules of a hunter!” Von exclaims.

“I told you not to return here ever again!”

“Today is an exception. I’m here on a bounty, now, where’s the kid!?”

“don’t you dare go near him!”

Von aims his rifle at Bon, and demands “Where is the child, or ill blow your brain out of that PATHETIC head of yours!”

Katsu closed his eyes and did the only thing he could think of and pushed the heavy shelf.

The shelf fell and separated Von and Bon.

Using his sudden burst of energy, he then grabbed a heavy sack of flour and swings it.

Von shoots the sack, and the room is immediately filled with flour dust.

Von steps back and covers his mouth and nose.

Katsu makes a run for the door to escape.

Von throws away his Rifle and catches katsu just outside the store.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

“Gotcha! You’re not escaping again!” Von shouted.

Katsu struggles to escape, so Von tried to tie him down.

“Stay put kid, you’re being way too troublesome! This is way more work than it pays.” He says while having a hard time tying katsu.

Then, a bullet hits Von in the side, near the liver.

“Don’t think that I won't hurt you just because you are my brother.” Bon threatens Von.

Bon walks out of the smokey store aiming at Von’s head with the rifle that Von threw away.

“Ehh?? Do I now?” Von teases him.

Von grabs katsu and pulls out a revolver aiming at katsu’s head, taking him hostage.

“Don’t move any closer or this little brat’s brains will end up on the pavement.”

“Bon! Help!” katsu pleaded, struggling to move.

“SHUT UP BRAT!” Von yelled.

“Von! Don’t do it!” Bon said trying to convince Von.

“Make me.”

Von cocks the gun and places his finger on the trigger.

Katsu closes his eyes, hoping that he’ll get saved and something good will happen.

He prepares for the worst.

Then, the voice whispers once more…

“Not yet.”

And the next thing katsu heard was a gunshot, and his ears ringing.

Then, a voice…

“Stand down! His Majesties Royal Military Police! And let the boy go!”

Katsu opens his eyes.

And he saw policemen surrounding the bounty hunter.

And the gunshot he heard was someone shooting the bounty hunter’s revolver, which sent it flying out of his hands.

“I SAID STAND DOWN AND LET THE BOY GO!!” A policeman yelled.

Von sweats and gulps.

Von thought to himself, “well… this is getting out of control, I guess I’ll give up, this is more work than it’s worth.”

So, he let katsu go.

Von sighs, and then he says, “Alright! You got me; I surrender.”

Katsu runs over to Bon.

“Ahh! Monsieur katsu! Are you ok!? Are you hurt!?”

“I’m ok… what about you?”

“Ah, just little scratches, don’t worry!”

A police officer walks up to them.

“You two! We’re taking you in custody! You’ve got a lot of explaining to do…”

“Eh?” both of them exclaimed.

Both of them were taken to the Central Headquarters of the Landon Military Police, at the greater Scatland yard.

It’s a large 10 story modern style building that stands out over the severely outdated old buildings of Landon.

Though lavish and futuristic its façade maybe, the interrogation room that looks more like a prison cell, inside is small and cramped, it smells like rust, and only has one light to illuminate the entire room.

Katsu sits silently playing and fiddling with his shaking hands, he has never gotten into trouble this high.

Usually, Vin would just time him out and not let him outside, but now, the stakes are high, and he can’t help but feel nervous.

But he tries his best to keep calm.

Minutes later, they start to hear footsteps.

And a decorated police officer enters the room.

He steps inside, a young police officer.

He is wearing the standard royal police uniform; he has 3 stars on his shoulder and many ribbons and awards filling his right chest.

Holding a cup of tea, he removes his hat and sits down.

His hair is messy, with dark circles under his eyes, his face is droopy.

He furrow his eyebrows and stares deeply at the pair.

He takes a sip and sighs.

He turns his head up and stares at Bon and Katsu.

A moment of awkward silence…

Then, the man talked.

“Alright, let’s get this over with… I’m the chief of the royal military police of the city of Landon, lieutenant general Albert Wilson.”

Bon replies, “we are-”

“I already know who you guys are, so spare me the introductions… let’s cut to the chase, we have a bounty hunter in our cell for causing a ruckus at the commercial district, he was apparently after you guys… so I need an explanation for all this trouble I woke up to first thing in the morning!” He complains.

Bon and Katsu proceeded to explain everything…

“I see… so your brother, the bounty was hired to keep Mr. Everest away from the police because your friend was captured by a gang. And after he tried to seek your help, he went crazy and so this happened??” Albert clarified.

“Ye-yes sir, that's all that happened,” Katsu responded.

“So, what gang kidnapped this Mr. vin exactly? We’ll just save him and end this whole kerfuffle.”

“Well…” Bon was hesitant to tell.

“Everything happened so fast, I can’t remember if vin said anything to me about that… do you know Bon?”

“it’s…” Bon is still hesitant.

“Mr. Bon, please tell us, this information is very crucial for us to take action. And, you’re wasting my valuable time, I should be taking on more important matters, but I’m stuck here with you because of the duties I have to keep as a General of the military police, now tell me!” Albert demanded.

Bon gave up and answered.

“Vin is part of the Underground Pint…”

The room falls into silence…

The chief was so flabbergasted he dropped his cup and shattered it on the floor.

This also shocked katsu, the chief’s response confused him, so he turned to Bon, he saw Bon’s head face down, covering his eyes in disappointment like he expected this kind of response.

Moments later, 2 guards burst into the room.

“Sir! What happened?? We heard a crashing noise so we thought something bad might happen…”

Albert chuckles with fear…

“S-So, y-your friend got k-kidnapped by the Underground Pint?” he stutteringly questions.

“Yeah, that’s what Bon said…” katsu immediately answers.

Albert sits back and calms himself down.

“Hmm… let me see…… yeah, there’s nothing we can do about that.”

“What!?” Katsu exclaimed.

“Tsk, I knew it. You guys are too weak to stop them.” Bon quietly says as he sits back up.

“The Underground Pint Huh, we’ve been tracking them for the past 10 months. They are notoriously powerful, so we can’t make a single move against them!”

“But-’’ katsu tried to reason but was cut off.

“ALSO! Another thing, we’re keeping both of you under investigation, for the reason of a clear relation with a member of one of the most wanted criminal organizations. and we’ll have to lock you up until this madness dissipates.”

“This is crazy! You refuse to save our friend and now you’re going to lock us up because of it!?” Bon cuts in.

“We can’t just let you go, as a threat to national security, I’ll be held responsible if you cause more trouble!”

“Then if you’re so loyal to your job then actually help us!” Katsu also joins in.

“What else am I supposed to do? Send my entire police force to the base of the Underground Pint!? We don’t even know where it is!!” he declares, standing up with an annoyed look.

Albert turns to the 2 guards and told them.

“After you clean up this place assign this case to a different guy, this is just too troublesome for me, be careful, they might cause trouble for you guys too, but be light on the kid. If you need me, I’ll be in my office taking some more Z’s.”

And then he continues to talk about their schedules.

Katsu scowls and grinds his teeth in anger.

Once again, he is powerless by himself…

But today, he’s not alone.

“So, you think that I don’t know their location?” Bon asked.

“Pardon?” Albert replied.

“I do happen to have a secret note from Vin, as my dear friend and a loyal customer, I have information that you DON’T have.”

Albert nervously laughs.

“That’s impossible.”

Bon grabs a piece of paper from his pocket and throws it on the table.

“There is your impossible…”

Pulls out a cigar.

“How did he get that inside? We had them patted down, right??” a guard murmured.

“That’s not what’s important here!” he told the guards.

Albert quickly grabs the paper and reads it.

“Tch, how do we know you’re not lying!?”

“Trust me or not, it’s up to you to decide.”

Bon looks around for a lighter.

“Even if we know where their base is, this is a high-security threat to the nation, we need to call on the army, which is out of the city! They will arrive here in around 3-4 hours for the army to completely mobilize! Giving the gang time to prepare, and I don't want the army to clash with them head-on, even one dead soldier would ruin our image!”

“You are the Military Police, I KNOW that you can change the story however you want, plus! They won’t know immediately, you have Von detained in your cells, they won’t notice immediately if their bounty hunter is missing… but you’re right, it’s only a matter of time before they notice.”

Silence ensues once more.

Katsu’s face lights up as he stares graciously at Bon like he was his hero.

“Woah! Bon is so cool! Maybe I can do something too, I want to help!” katsu thinks to himself.

Katsu starts thinking about what to do, he wants to help but doesn’t know how to.

He doesn’t want to become useless again.

Hey…

I’ll tell you what you can do…

An unknown voice whispers into Katsu’s ears.

Katsu gasps.

Katsu begins to sweat as the voice tells Katsu of a plan.

Shivers are sent down his spine, this is a risky plan…

He couldn’t remember what it said, but he knows its contents…

Albert clears his voice and spoke, “Now, that's a risk I don’t want to take. Now if you excuse me, I've got more important things to do.”

Time is ticking…

Follow the voice or not?

Time slows down as Katsu carefully deliberates.

Opportunity is leaving the room.

Albert was moments away from leaving but before he could reach the door.

Katsu calls out.

“Wait!”

“What is it now!?” he irritatingly yelled back.

“We can distract them!”

This surprised everyone in the room, and Bon choked on the cigarette and starts coughing.

Bon stops coughing and speaks. “Monsieur! What are you saying!”

Albert joins in, “Yeah! What are you rambling about kid!?”

Katsu gulps and repeats what the voice told him.

With absolute confidence in his voice.

“I'm saying that we can distract them, using the incident in the commercial district, Bon will bring me to their base, since Bon looks similar to Von, he will act as the Bounty Hunter, and I will pretend that I’ve been caught. And distract the entire gang for as long as we can, besides, not every member is at their HQ, right?”

Everyone is utterly Dumbfounded at Katsu’s plan.

“Hmm. It is certainly possible, but wait a minute! That plan is just crazy! You guys will risk your lives just for this!?”

Bon defends Katsu’s idea.

“Yes it has its risks, but you’re letting the opportunity of arresting your dreaded enemies…”

“PFFF! Kid, why do are you so determined to rescue him!? Who is he to you anyways?!”

The whole room gasps.

“Oh… I shouldn’t have said that…” Albert whispers.

“Because I…”

“Nah I’m sorry, you don’t have to answer that-”

Katsu interjects with confidence.

“Because Vin is my last family left… I am determined to save him, I WILL not lose another person close to me.”

“And you said it with such determination as well… commendable, but that just-”

Bon pleads.

“I never would have thought I would to say this to a police officer but… I beg of you, please get my friend back!”

“Wah, I… oh wow, this is such an eventful morning…”

Speechless.

Albert sits back down and rests his head on his hand.

Albert ponders for a moment…

Then, he had decided.

“Looks like I’ve got no choice… Alrighty then, here’s a deal, I’ll allow you to go out and rescue your friend, in EXCHANGE for the subsequent arrest of the prince of terror Ivan Hanzai as well as the dissolution of his entire crime organization. Do we have a deal?”

Katsu looks at Bon.

“Well, if katsu is fine with this then sure,” Bon answered.

For the first time in a long time, Katsu felt happy, like a large boulder was lifted off of his shoulders, he finally did something to help.

But still, something heavy was tied to his heart bringing it down.

“Then it’s decided,” He calls on the guards, “You there, tell my secretary to cancel my other plans for the afternoon, and the other guy, go tell all available officers to prepare for an emergency meeting.”

“Yes sir!”

“you two get ready, we are not wasting any time so get moving!” he ordered.

They walk out of the room and they get briefed while walking in the corridors of the police HQ.

“So, based on the ridiculous plan that you just said, I’ll call garrison general Sho. Do your thing and stall as long as you can until they arrive, so I’ll ask you this one time and one time only. Are you sure you want to do this?” Albert asked.

“Yep! Of course, I can! I'm strong!” katsu quickly responded.

“Lies I said that day, just to get you back…” an unknown voice lamented.

“Ok, you guys go and prepare, I’ll go over to send the army a telegram.”

Albert leaves the 2 behind and got some brand-new tea.

He walks down the brightly lit corridor and enters a small dark room with two officers on radios.

He takes a chair and a sip, then he commanded.

“Send a message that calls for this telegram to be sent over to general Sho, now listen closely, here’s the message.”

The officer starts to do Morse code and a message was sent to the temporary army HQ in the countryside.

On a hot autumn morning, leaves are scattered along the road heading towards a large mansion in the peaceful countryside.

In a room, an officer hastily decodes the encrypted message and writes it into a piece of paper.

He orders a messenger to bring the message to the highest chief of staff.

The messenger runs inside the mansion, and he barges into a small room, sweating and grunting heavily.

“I’ve got an urgent letter for General Sho!” he yells.

Large windows let in an abundance of light in the room, a large sofa and two chairs, and a table in between, on it, papers and cups of tea.

Sitting in the center is a highly decorated general with his crossed legs, beside him are more high-ranking officers of the army.

The messenger catches his breath, stands up straight then salutes.

“We’ve received an urgent request from the Landon City Military Police!” he announced.

“From the chief?” The general asked.

“Yes sir!”

“We are discussing important matters, and are subsequently busy, so the general will see to it later.” A lieutenant general sitting adjacent to the general ordered.

“But sir, this is also important!”

“I said we’re busy-’’

The officer yelled but was cut off.

“If it’s that urgent then I’ll hear it.”

“o-ok sir!”

He gives the general the written letter.

His eyebrow twitches in annoyance.

“Does like Albert need more therapy?” He mumbles.

He sighs.

“I also want an audible report on this.’’

“Ah, o- ok sir!” he stutters.

The messenger starts to report information they’ve received while the general reads the letter.

“That’s the report, sir!”

“Hmm. I see, so this really IS urgent…”

The general stops for a moment to think, he pulls out his pocket watch and looks at the time.

“Alrighty then, we’ve got time.”

The general stands up and puts on a coat.

“Lieutenant! Get the 16th and 18th infantry divisions ready, we’re moving ASAP!”

“Yes General! Right away Sir!!” the Lieutenant says and leaves immediately.

The general walks up to the messenger and orders him to “Tell Albert that we’re coming, and tell him that we’re even.”

“yes sir!” the messenger replied.”

Back at Landon, they received the message from the General.

“Sir! General Sho has approved the operation and the army is preparing to head out!”

“Good, I’ll tell the others.”

“Sir! General Sho also said that you two are “even.””

Albert chuckles.

“He never owed me anything in the first place.’’ Then heads out.

He leaves the building and see’s Katsu and Bon dressed and ready waiting for him.

“Alright. Are you all ready?”

“Yep!” katsu responded.

“Okay then, we’re going to get you as close as we can to their base, after that, you’re all on your own.

“Got it,” Bon said.

“Alright! Get on! We’re leaving pronto!”

They board a small jeep and headed out towards the gang’s HQ.

Katsu hands were cold, but he still wears a big smile.

Bon closes his eyes and meditates.

Albert puts his head on the window and worries for the future…

He’ll be waiting…

End of chapter 4