kscans

Chapter 26 -

His Present, Worried About the Future

If Yanagi Seiichi, the leader of the Chaos Army, was a man of wisdom and power, then Onisaki Ranmaru, the head of True World, could be described as a man of luck and power.

While they shared commonalities in strength and charisma, their strengths differed. Yanagi used his sharp intellect to elevate the Chaos Army into a major organization in the underground world. This was, in a sense, straightforward—a logical rise to power.

Onisaki, however, was different. He stacked up numerous small coincidences and trivial strokes of luck to push True World into becoming a major underground organization. This was simply unstoppable. If Yanagi had logic as his backbone, one could counter him by pitting another wise person against him. But luck... there's no way to deal with that. After all, even he himself didn't intend it, so there was no way to stop it.

"Some call me a monster or a demon, but from my perspective, that man is far more terrifying. He's untouchable."

Onisaki was such a troublesome opponent that even Yanagi in his prime said this about him. I myself had been outmaneuvered by him countless times in the past, so I immediately agreed with Yanagi's statement, thinking, "That's so true!" even though he was my enemy.

Although I ultimately emerged victorious, he was truly a formidable foe. And yet, such a formidable enemy...

(Why the hell is he a drag queen now?!)

Come on, give me a break, seriously. My two former archenemies—one's homeless, and the other's the mama of a drag queen bar? How am I supposed to react to this?! This is way too much for an amateur to handle...!

"Hideo-chan? And Ran-chan too. You two—"

Mama's words snapped me back to reality. I have a lot on my mind, but... now's not the time for that!

"Ah, yeah, just some acquaintances. Don't worry about it."
"I see. I won't then."

Brushing it off smoothly, Mama began chatting with the bar staff.

"You..."

Onisaki's eyes widened.

"No matter how much you or I try to cover it up, we can't fool Mama's eyes, can we?"
"...No, we can't."
"And neither of us wants to make Mama worry."
"...That's right."
"So I did what I did. Any complaints?"
"...None. Let me thank you."

What I did was distort perception. I twisted the recognition of myself and Onisaki so that it could be brushed off as "just the way things are." There's no sense of discomfort. For example, if we started fighting right now, Mama and the others wouldn't think anything of it.

It's not the best method, but I didn't want to make Mama worry unnecessarily, and above all, I didn't want to ruin the atmosphere here.

"...We'll talk about everything else after this party."
"Agreed."

Damn... this drag queen way of speaking is still so jarring! The image of his former self keeps flashing in my mind, and it's driving me crazy!!

(I need a drink to deal with this... seriously.)

The party continued until late into the night. After returning to the business hotel with the cheerful company president, instead of going back to my room, I headed to the hotel rooftop. It's normally off-limits and locked, but that's meaningless to me.

"Phew..."

Sipping on a cup of instant miso soup I bought to sober up, I ponder absentmindedly. Onisaki Ranmaru. Along with Yanagi Seiichi, one of my former archenemies. Although I ultimately triumphed over both, at the time, neither was an easy opponent for me.

(I wonder how Yanagi would react if I told him about this.)

While I might have been an enemy Yanagi couldn't ignore, his greatest enemy was probably Onisaki. If you asked Onisaki, he'd probably say Yanagi was his greatest enemy too.

Yanagi Seiichi and Onisaki Ranmaru. The two were polar opposites in every way. Yanagi sought a new horizon at the end of chaos, but his essence was quite gentlemanly. Onisaki sought absolute stability through order, but his essence was that of a ruffian. To put it bluntly, he was a thug.

(How many times did I think, "Aren't you guys backwards?")

Why would such a thug seek absolute order? People who don't know the circumstances probably wouldn't understand. But there's a proper reason.

Why did he try to bind the world and people with absolute order... at the root of it all was self-restraint. Onisaki Ranmaru was originally from the surface world too, caught up in misfortune and stepped into the underground world.

However, the group that protected him wasn't good. Not all people who come from the surface to the underground are protected by the Mutual Aid Society. There are several factions in the underground, and for them, former "panpi" (civilians) are just chances to increase their forces.

The group that protected Onisaki was a small faction of obvious troublemakers, and at first, Onisaki himself did whatever he wanted. He was a man who would later become the leader of a major faction. His potential was different from the average small fry. He rapidly rose to prominence, they say. But one day, he realized something. Looking at himself and the people around him, he thought:

"Isn't it dangerous to let people like us run wild?"

If he had only targeted the troublemakers, it would have been fine... but you understand, right? As I've said before, whether it's positive or negative, you need strong passion to do something big.

Onisaki was the same. He came to view all of humanity as dangerous. He believed that he and the other troublemakers weren't special at all. That beneath the surface, everyone was a potential troublemaker.

Human history is a history of liberation. As time progressed, people became more and more unrestrained.

...If left unchecked, wouldn't this lead to irreversible consequences?

Onisaki harbored such fears.

So what could be done to prevent these fears from becoming reality? What he sought was absolute order. He tried to protect humanity's future by binding it tightly.

At his core, even though he was a thug, he was a thug leaning towards goodness. So he established True World under the banner of protecting humanity's future, but...

(Talk about meddling to the extreme...)

Yanagi was the same, but come on. "Humanity is doomed if things continue like this?" Hey, that's just your opinion, you know? That's all I can say.

From the perspective of those caught up in it, it's really unbearable, seriously.

By the way, I've made this kind of counterargument many times, but... well, he never listened. Of course not. A guy who would change his opinion based on the words of a teenager in his teens wouldn't start talking about changing the world in the first place.

That stubbornness... I guess it's also what attracts people to him.

(But what is he thinking now?)

From what I could see at the farewell party... I didn't sense anything dangerous. I don't think he's planning a comeback with his former ideology or anything like that.

But he's definitely hiding something. The reason for this farewell party was that he was handing over the bar to a kid he had been looking after. So, what after that? Mama was asking about that too. Was he going to open a new place somewhere?

He shook his head firmly and said:

"There's just something I left unfinished."

Since I've forgiven Yanagi, I think Onisaki can do as he pleases as long as he doesn't cause trouble. But I can't overlook his "unfinished business" without hearing what it is. Given our history.

"...So you've come."

As I turned around, Onisaki silently landed on the rooftop. He had a serious expression, but...

(The drag outfit is throwing me off...!!)

Couldn't he have at least dressed as a man for this?!