rubestie

Season: Winter

Writer: Akira

Characters: Tsukasa, Kohaku, Madara

tsukasa

Tsukasa: Ahem. H, how indeed did Mikejima-senpai come across J-san?

Kohaku: There doesn’t seem to be any connections between the two of ‘em after all. I also want ta know.

What, did ya get curious and launch a secret investigation into GFK or somethin’? And then ya found out about J’s existence and took ‘im in before anyone could target him?

Madara: H~m. It’s not really anything that cool.

The orphanage that J ended up in is called the “Maizuru House”.

Tsukasa: I feel like I have heard that somewhere… Ah, is that the orphanage where Narukami-senpai worked at around the beginning of the year?

I remember because she kept nagging me because I didn’t want to participate asI do not enjoy childcare.

She kept saying stuff like “It was so fun and such a good experience~” and “You really missed out by not participating, you know~”

Madara: Right. I also worked there temporarily. Of course, during that time I had no idea about J’s background, so I didn’t treat him any different from the others.

While working as a nursery teacher at the Maizuru House I was in charge of the group of kids called the “Kaiju Group”.

One of those kids never warmed up to me until the end, and kept having a really thorny attitude with me.

That child ended up being J.

I kept wondering why that child hated me so much. I thought maybe I had scared him a little too much, or maybe I had done something rude to him. After we finished working there, I did some self-reflection about my actions.

Kohaku: Why were ya out there scarin’ the kids anyways?

Madara: I was simply doing what I do best. Anyhow, at our little farewell party, J opened his mouth and spoke to me for the first time.

kohaku+madara

-”Mikejima-sensei.”

-”Sensei, were you the one who beat up papa?”

Tsukasa: That’s… For those to be the first words he spoke to you, even Mikejima-senpai must have been surprised to hear that?

Madara: Yes. Or more like, at first I honestly had no idea what he was even talking about. I thought he was quoting lines from some manga or movie.

But. Then I tried collecting my thoughts and took a closer look at J’s face, and felt his features looked somehow familiar.

That got me curious, so I even borrowed help from my parents, and that’s how I discovered that J was, in fact, GFK’s son.

Kohaku: I see… What a strange turn of events.

But wait a sec. How'd J even know that we were the ones who got rid of GFK?

As far as the public’s concerned, our “job” back then was part of the performance on stage, and the story’s supposed ta be that GFK went missing followin’ an accident on-set.

Madara: Yes. He ended up being squeezed by overly excited audience members. And thus the poor, old GFK had to retire.

It’s such a shame when elderly people are met with accidents like that. It makes my heart hurt.

Kohaku: Yer smilin’ from ear ta ear.

So, did J see footage of the incident or hear ‘bout it on the news? Did he instinctively realize that we were ta ones that defeated GFK?

Or, seein’ how the incident turned out, did he want ta thank ya regardless of whether it was on purpose or not?

Madara: I think it’s something like that. I'm not sure, but someone might have tipped him off about it. There was a “ghost” at Maizuru House who seemed to know even secret information about the industry, after all.

That busybody “ghost” might’ve lectured J and told him that “Mikejima-sensei is your benefactor, so make sure you listen to him.”

The “Kaiju Group” was supposed to be rather tough to handle, but that someone’s support might have been what made the children listen to me.

As you can tell, J rarely speaks at all, and even when asked questions he refuses to answer. So, the truth of the matter remains unknown.

And that’s what led to me and J forming an unlikely connection at the Maizuru House.

Kohaku: So that connection’s what led J to ask Madara-han fer help this time around?

Madara: Yup. It seems that J has been feeling more and more as if he is in danger as of late. He even came close to being kidnapped while playing in the orphanage garden.

kohaku+madara

Kohaku: Ya mean villains targettin’ GFK’s fortune were tryin’ ta kidnap him?

Madara: We can’t know for sure. But he is a child I once took care of as if he was my own. I can’t just abandon him.

Kohaku: "As if he was your own" sounds like an exaggeration fer sure. But the reason for J being in danger lies with us, as we are responsible for erasing his father.

J has committed no crimes, it’s our duty ta protect him so he doesn’t end up in danger ‘cause of us.

Madara: Yes. By the way, to explain how I came across this information in more detail, the first thing that happened was that Maizuru House called the police after the kidnapping attempt. My father, the head of the police, then contacted me with the information.

He scolded me, saying that this problem started with me, so I better roll up my sleeves and fix it as well.

He also mentioned that if I didn’t fix things, my parents would “handle” everything on their end. If things ended up like that, then even I wouldn’t be able to sleep well afterwards.

That left me with no choice but to take in J, after which I hurried to a safe hiding place-

In other words, that’s when I came here to seek refuge. Well, I’m still on the fence as to whether or not this place is actually safe, though.

I can’t really think of anywhere else to go…

I can’t rely on my parents. And I can’t go back to Maizuru House either, or else the other kids at the orphanage could end up in danger from those who are coming for J.

Kohaku: The other kids have nothin’ ta do with this, after all. All the children, including J, are just innocent bystanders who got roped into our business.

Madara: Indeed. We aren’t the good guys in this situation. If anything, we’re just bad guys fighting even worse guys right now.

Even villains need to draw a line they would never cross. If not, then your entire soul would become drenched by evil.

Like how Batman refuses to ever commit murder.

No matter what other illegal acts he commits, he makes sure to always stick to that restriction he placed onto himself. No matter how cornered he gets, he will protect that rule to his death.

Others might not understand his train of thought, and they might criticize him, but that silly and yet important line is what protects him from going insane.

It protects him from the insanity called justice, and enables him to stay as a world-renowned hero worthy of respect.

As the existence I have looked up to ever since I was a kid - a hero.

Kohaku: So what yer sayin’ is that not gettin’ innocent children involved in this mess is the line ya drew for yerself?

Madara: Well, if it really came down to it, I would probably step over that line though? It would be stupid if I ended up dead or injured while trying to look cool, after all.

Kohaku: I don’t even know where ta begin respondin’ ta that.

Madara: …But hey, I decided to try and look cool for as long as I can.

Since this kid saw me as his teacher, and asked for my help, I have a duty to protect him.

kohaku+madara