At the sight of the very woman who destroyed his life, Tamashi began to shake, his voice sounding anguished.
“What is this? What’s going on here? Is your name really even Star? I knew it sounded fake!”
“Jeez, you’re more mouthy than I remembered. Anyways, I’ll explain everything if you agree to come with me. Otherwise, you can just go back to your cell and sit in your own tears and piss until the trial starts. Your choice.”
“YOU SENT ME TO HELL AND NOW YOU’RE BAILING ME OUT?! WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?!”
“I’ll tell you if you agree to do this meeting. So make a choice already. I don’t have all day, brat.”
Tamashi wanted to lunge at Star, but he managed to calm down the storm in his mind, and began to think rationally.
He thought about his options. He quickly concluded that he didn’t want to sit in jail for months, but he also didn’t want to concede so easily to Star.
After a few moments passed, he made his offer.
“I’ll go with you and talk to you, if you agree to two conditions. One, I want to be free to go after we talk. I don’t particularly like you anymore, so I don’t want to stay around you for long. And two,”
Tamashi matched his gaze with Star’s, his eyes becoming pools of intimidation.
“I want to eat the biggest, juiciest, and most expensive steak you can find. Jail food is a joke.”
As an eerie silence fell in the area, except for the rustle of a light breeze, Tamashi thought about whether his demands were taken seriously.
After a brief pause, Star began to laugh. Sweat formed on Tamashi’s forehead.
“Of course! That works for me. Now, one last thing before we go. Let me properly introduce myself.”
The wind picked up, blasting through Star’s hair. The bright sunlight shone in her hazel eyes. Her lips formed into a determined grin.
“I’m the president of the Kita gang. My name is Bri. Nice to meet you, Tamashi Yosha.”
——
Savior: Original Story by OneSevenEight
Episode: Framed Perspective - Part 3
——
All he could do was stare out the window.
Charlie held a gaze that was fixed on the cafeteria windows as his food grew cold.
He thought about the news broadcast that he had watched that morning. He saw that Tamashi and this other person were both almost run over by a truck.
He also saw that Tamashi had been arrested for attempted murder.
‘Is my best friend really a murderer? Did I miss something this whole time? Or is something else going on here?’
Charlie felt a poke on his shoulder, which interrupted his thought process. He turned around to find Anna, who was giving off a harsher-than-usual scowl.
“You look extremely unpleasant. You’re usually all up in some girl’s holes during lunch.”
“What do you want, Anna?”
She sat down in the seat next to Charlie.
“The news this morning was crazy.”
“Yeah, so what do you want?”
“That situation seemed really bad.”
“Totally, so what do you want?”
“You worried about Tamashi?”
“Maybe, so what do you want?”
Anna slammed her hand into the table, then proceeded to lean in and invade Charlie’s personal space.
“I WANT TO GIVE YOU SOMEONE TO TALK TO INSTEAD OF LETTING YOU DEPRESS YOURSELF, DORK!”
The outburst was enough to catch the attention of the cafeteria as a whole. A silence descended into the room.
“Hey, you’re… kinda… close.”
After an unsettling pause, Anna snapped back into her seat, a bright red blush forming in her pale face.
For the first time that day, Charlie allowed a slight smile to form on his face. He had forgotten that Anna could be really cute sometimes.
For years, he kept his distance from Anna, trying to encourage Tamashi to make his move. The plan never worked out, as Tamashi was too much of a wimp to take the opportunity.
Anna dropped her head into her arms, her neck-length black hair settling on them. She left her yellow eyes barely visible, full of embarrassment.
Charlie could see why Tamashi was fond of her.
“Um, do you two know that Tamashi guy?”
Anna lifted her head up. Charlie spun around to greet their guest to the table.
She had decently long brunette hair and an amazingly deep brown gaze. Those brown eyes were turning into puddles.
“Uh, I- I’m the person he saved. I- I’m sorry… I couldn’t stop them!”
——
As they rode along to their destination, Tamashi’s mind was stuck on two thoughts: how thankful he was to be out of jail, and how pissed he was at Star, who’s now going by Bri.
“You’re awfully quiet. Why don’t you say something so you can wake me up?”
“Shut up, I’m trying not to strangle you right now.”
“Wow, so mean. To think that I agreed to get you that steak.”
An audible rumble surged with earthquake-level power within Tamashi’s stomach.
“Psh”
Tamashi moved his arm up to the sill, laid his head down, and stared out the window.
“You know, I’m shocked that you haven’t even questioned why you’re about to have a meeting with a ‘gang’”
“I’ve pretty much accepted that this day’s been weird as hell, and my life is actually going to hell, so I don’t really care.”
“Wow, the trial hasn’t even started, and you’re already giving up.”
“DON’T TALK ABOUT THE TRIAL WHEN YOU’RE THE REASON I’M EVEN GOING TO A TRIAL! IF YOU WANT TO TALK SO BADLY, THEN TELL ME WHY YOU’RE DESTROYING MY LIFE, STAR, OR BRI, OR WHATEVER THE HELL YOUR NAME IS!”
“Be patient, brat. We’re here. Save it for the meeting.”
The sight of what appeared before Tamashi took his breath away.
Until now, he had failed to realize that he and Bri were riding in a limo-like SUV.
The location they had arrived at was a towering, overbearing mansion. One that Tamashi had never even realized had existed in the area.
“Welcome to HQ. Your future begins here.”
“So, if you guys were a gang, wouldn’t it make more sense for you guys to use a lower-profile building?” Tamashi and Bri were walking through the grand hall, on their way to the dining room. Upon hearing the question, Bri stopped and turned around. “It’s because we have power. We’re considered to be one of the four great gangs. Between the four, we control everything from the shadows.” Tamashi’s face sunk into a deep pool of thought. “What are you stuck on now, brat?” “The four great gangs… They control everything… Does that mean… WOAH, MY SCHOOL WAS BEING RUN BY A GANG? Wait, so this means… SOME OF MY CLASSMATES WERE SECRET GANG MEMBERS! But who could they be? Charlie… Anna… that one guy who only eats lettuce for lunch…” As she listened to Tamashi’s vocalized thought process, Bri’s face slowly turned into a stupefied expression. “Hey, Bri, do you guys turn people’s brains into rabbit brains or something-“ “You seem a b
As he made his way home, Tamashi thought about his next steps.“Which way should I go, sir?”“Go left. Then it’ll be off the right down the road.”Despite his walkout, Bri had allowed Tamashi to use a car and a chauffeur to get to his house.Tamashi leaned back into his seat as he attempted to resolve the most pressing issue at hand.‘How am I gonna explain all this to Yasa?’Yasa is Tamashi’s older brother. Yasa has also been Tamashi’s legal guardian ever since their parents disappeared.‘I think he’ll understand me and not get too mad about what’s going on, so that solves the first issue. Now, the second issue…’Tamashi began to wonder about how he was going to return to school. Before he was able to come up with a plan, he inner thoughts were interrupted by the driver.“It’s this house here, right?”
The wind blows through the garden, carrying brown, broken leaves as the autumn sun rose in the distant sky. As Bri explored the beauty of the mansion’s east-side garden, a burly man wearing a black suit with a black tie appeared before her. “Madam Bri, I have some news for you.” Bri broke her eyes off of the flowers and slowly met the man’s eyes. The morning sun had tinted her hazel eyes into a brilliant green. “Does it have to do with the operation?” “Yes, madam. The operation is ready. We just need your approval in order to commence.” Bri directed her gaze to the morning sky. As she watched the clouds drift by, her black hair began to flow in the wind. ‘For the sake of our future, we need to defeat them. God, I hope I’m doing the right thing.’ Without removing her eyes from the sky, Bri started to give her response. “I, Bri of the Kita, order all person
“So, where are we going? I don’t remember seeing this place have tables outside.” “Don’t worry, we have a special table set up in our back alleyway.” Charlie thought about the possibility that this mysterious waiter could in some way be connected to Tamashi’s criminal case. “We’re disappointed with ourselves for being sub-par when it comes to our standards, so we’ve prepared a special table for you in our back alleyway. ‘Man, this guy’s a terrible actor.’ As they left the building through a side door and walked towards the back, Charlie skimmed over his surroundings, looking for signs of danger. His checks also included watching over Anna and Tsuru. Anna was walking slowly, maintaining a slight distance from the group. A look of determination was visible in her eyes, but Charlie could tell that that was a facade. Tsuru was maintaining a close distance to Charlie, almost to the point of hiding behind him. Her face was f
A chilling, whistling breeze traveled throughout the alleyway. The warm and welcoming sunlight slowly began to dwindle as the source sunk farther and farther into the west. The discolored, abhorrent walls absorbed the sunlight for nothing in return, contributing to the dark and dingy atmosphere.As the ghostly breeze made its way through the unsightly alley, it left behind a song of horror and despair. The unnerving song unified accordingly with the perilous situation that Charlie and his friends were intertwined within.In between the wet walls of unease was the ignition of a heated battle. On one side of the generic and ominous dining table was the brown-haired assassin, whose blood-crimson eyes were occupied by pure mania. As the man who called himself Max perched himself on the table, he aggressively deployed his knife and brought it to the neck of his opponent.The blond-haired receiver of the threat suspended himself in time as he began to process the fact
The calm, orange sunset began to fade into a blood red canopy as the once-friendly ocean converted into a ferocious beast. For the first time since his mind arrived at the lonely and windy island, Charlie lifted his head out of his legs. He watched as the color shift occurred in the sky. “Oh… It’s begun. Someone’s hurt… It’s probably my fault.” Charlie lowered his attention to his shoes. The beastly ocean water had flooded his feet and was up to his ankles. “Not long… Before it ends…” As the waves continued to crash into Charlie’s feet, he continued to watch the waves, waiting for the moment it all ends. —— Savior: Original Story by OneSevenEight Episode: Framed Perspective - Part 9 —— “Let’s get started, shall we?” Dark, dreary clouds interrupted the sun’s path of light, which led to darker, more lifeless alley. As murky, repulsive water gently dripped down the grime-stained walls, Max held Char
“Well now, look who decided to get up. You decided that you need more of an ass-beating?”“Please, that cheap shot was nothing.”Anna’s current appearance contradicted her retaliatory statement.Blood was exiting through a gash above the bridge of her nose and running in between her eyes. Her left eye had remained closed, and her nose appeared to be crooked.As Tsuru watched the standoff, she attempted to convince Anna to back down.“Stop, Anna! You need to sit down! You’re going to hurt yourself more-““Tsuru, it’s fine. I don’t want to see you, or that useless dork, die.”Max flashed a nauseating grin.“Look who decided to step up and play hero. I’ve gotta admit, I thought you were just relying on that wannabe for protection.”Anna responded with a face of conviction and determination.“I always thought I was stronger
Both Anna and Tsuru expected a fiery rampage from Max, but instead, he closed his eyes and grew quiet.Tsuru began to worry that he was going to blindside Anna.“Hey, please be careful, Anna. Don’t get yourself-““It’s fine. I know he’s up to something.”As Anna cautiously waited for Max to make his next move, he reopened his eyes and formed a conceited smile.“Wow, you truly are a worthy opponent. I haven’t had to fight this hard since I trained with my brother and the boss. You are one truly special person.”Max began to make his way towards Anna with a slow walk. His hands were in his pockets.“Huh, so you respect me as a worthy opponent now? No more ‘girl’ insults?”“I had my doubts, but you truly seem to be a wolf in sheep’s clothing. I have to acknowledge that fact and offer some respect to you. Let’s properly begin this