How to be Happy: Futility in Choosing

Chapter 4: An Unlikely Threat

      I began to sprint away from the police station, after getting out of the cell. I looked at the name of the police station: Sutareta Police Department.

Damn it, this means I'm really far from Nozomu. I'll need to ask for directions somewhere. This part of town is really abandoned though, and crime rules this part of town. I should be careful, I could be mugged at any time.

I walked around the ghetto, ruined buildings, seeing broken buildings, affected by war. I can feel my stomach rumbling, so I walked into a convenience store. 

The cashier ducks under the desk, as I look over at him. 
"What's wrong?"
"I d-don't have money on me.. please don't hurt me.."

Oh, that's what he means. I walked around the store, and grabbed a bag of chips. I dropped 3 dollars on the desk, and left the store, so that I wouldn't terrorize the poor guy any longer.

As I crunched on the chips, I began to wonder.. who's this Itami Yoshtaka guy? Most likely a gang leader, but what does he want from me? Could I have done something wrong? I should discuss this with Fruity, I haven't seen him since I was sent here. I feel really bad though, I left him to fight, just like my father did to me.

"Let me see your wallet and your hands." A woman said to me, as something sharp poked my back.

"Heh, you wanna see something else too?" I said, as I turned my eye to look at her. 

She was shorter than me, with a black mask covering her mouth and nose, and sunglasses to cover her eyes. The shades weren't dark enough, so I could see the color of her eyes.

"Ew! No thank you, have you no shame?" She said, as I felt her push the knife onto my back, the tip poking into my suit.

"You're pink eyes are really pretty, why bother keeping them hidden?"
I asked, as she looked away for a second. I looked behind her and saw another big guy, about 6'3, bald and was wearing a leather jacket, like the girl behind me. They were both wearing black leather, with a red inside shirt, so I'm assuming their in a gang.

"Hey, how old are you?" I asked, as she looked back up.
"21."
"You sound 19." I say, as she stomps on the ground.
"I'M 21!" She says, as she pushes the knife a little deeper.

"Then why are you doing this?"
"What do you m-"

I turned and grabbed the dagger, as she backed up. I just held it, as the big guy walked up to me.

"Give it back."
"I'll fight you without it, fatty." I said, as the girl got in between the two of us.

"Wait! Don't fight him, please!" The girl says, as I look back at him.
"Fine." I say, as I reached into my pocket and gave them $50, wrapping it around the dagger. I handed the two the dagger, as the big guy looked at me with confusion. I backed away, as the big guy moved up. 

The big guy punched me in the gut, as I grasped my stomach. As I was injured, he kneed me in the face, as I fell to the ground.

"Why did you do that?!"
"He harassed you! I wasn't just gonna stand here!"

"ᴺᵒʷ ʷᵉ ʰᵘʳᵗ ˢᵒᵐᵉᵒⁿᵉ, ʸᵒᵘ ˢᵃᶦᵈ ʸᵒᵘ ʷᵒᵘˡᵈⁿ'ᵗ ˢᵒ ᵗʰᶦˢᵎ"

I could feel myself losing consciousness, as I laid there.

I woke up on a bed, as I found a hot pack of water on my stomach and some ice on my head. I sat up from the bed and stood up, to be greeted by a vault door.  I could see through the glass, and I saw two of them outside, by a campfire in a barrel. They had food, and were laughing near it.

Hmm.. I need to get out of here, but I can't seem to find a way to open this vault. The opening latch is rusted shut. Oh, I have an idea.

I began to bang on the vault door, making as much noise as I could. 

"What do you want?"

"I CAN'T BREATHE IN HERE!" I said, as the girl's eyes widened. 

"He's bluffing, he can breathe just fine! We hid in there when the bombs hit here!"
"But what if he isn't? The vault is pretty old, and all we gave him was hot water and ice!" The girl remarks, as the man looks up at her.

She runs over to the vault and opens it, as I stand upright.
She looked surprised, as I walked passed her and walked to the campfire. The big guy looked unphased, just eating the food in front of him. I sat down next to him, as the girl looked at me in confusion.

"I'm not mad at you guys, I know why you do what you do: to survive." I say, as the big guy chuckled and handed me a plate of food. I began to eat, as the girl sat next to the guy, across the fire from me.

"My name is Tafu. The girl is Noa, and we're survivors of the war. Sutareta was caught in war while we lived here, we were here with 2 other guys, before the bombs fell. We ran into this building, my old apartment, and one of the rooms was this vault. It was for the apartment owner's stash of food. Heh, who would've known? Me and Noa ran here, as the bombs hit one of them, keeping only 3 of us alive. Then.. we made it to the vault. The door could only close from the outside, but can open from the inside. The last guy decided it should be him that should lock it.. selfless shit..!" The guy began to tear up, as Noa comforted him.

"Oh my god.." was all I could say, as I realized..

I was the bastard son.. of the man who did this.. 
Am I a villain..?
Did I cause this town to become such a hellhole? 

Do I bring it up..? To the man who's plagued with the memories of it? If I don't.. how long would it take until I have to?

Is it futile to keep it a secret?
Can I even choose?