‘Damn, they must have beeed from all the yelling…’ Yuki ground his teeth together wishing he had noticed them sooner. It only made their situation more plicated. He didn’t want to have to be dealing with the UN so soon. ‘I khat I’d have to front them eventually, but I don’t have a pn to deal with them. Even if we win here it doeshings. This isn’t going to be a simple fight.’

  Seiji surprisingly remained fairly calm in front of the threat. While Yuki expected him to charge in like the st time on the boat and even here, he remaiill. Nothing ged the look on his face, he was ready to go at a moment’s notibsp; However, he seemed to be keeping himself restrained. Su act pleased Yuki as he knew he still had a ce.

  Turning away from Seiji, Yuki faced down with the man that looked to be in charge of the team. Around him, he saw a cast of members that reminded him as much of the wild gathering of the Titans as much as they did the stories he read. The leader looked far more reasonable in appearand not nearly as wild as Rheia. ‘I might be able to reason with him…’

  The man’s team worried Yuki though. He could see the looks in their eyes and they were all very familiar ones. They were the same ohat were inteans that they fought. They wao fight and not for the sake of something good or just. These people just wanted a fight and being part of a military fave them all the justification that they needed. It was saned killing.

  Yuki had no issues with the UN in its ideals. However, he didn’t agree anymore than the rest of them with their presen Japan, not that it surprised him that much after he thought about it. It was an all too on tale, an easy and predictable oute, even if it is normal and rational.

  And they were all just exploiting it. They had positions where they got to fight others with powers, likely powerful ones, without any worry over being arrested themselves. Gover saned fighting, the worst sort of bag. And they all wanted as much as they could take.

  Except for the leader, he was out of pce with the rest of them. Yuki felt like this man actually believed in what he was doing. The look of fidend self-assurance posture. He had no doubt, stood like a mountain and yielded to nothing.

  ‘I guess it makes sense. Like how Rheia’s irength kept the Titans in lihis man probably is like that as well. The only thing those people respect is power. How powerful is this man? We’ve only had each other and the Atnteans as a measuring stibsp; Could Seiji beat him if we needed?’

  Chapter 310 – Reasons to Fight

  Dropping his Field, Yuki wao try something before things went beyond his trol. Everything happened quickly even though no one was making any moves. They were waiting to see how they responded, a standoff.

  “Gang war? What do you mean?” It was ag time. Yuki pyed up his best i mask that he could. ‘I hope this works…’ Nothing was set in sto, he could still get them free without a fight. That was the hope anyway. “We just stumbled by this. We’re passing by.”

  The man narrowed his eyes reading through all of Yuki’s features trying to get his measure. “You’re saying a flict that has been going on for more than a month and has a tenth of the city in fmes is pletely unknown to you.” His suspis were easy to read, and food reason.

  Yuki sweated a little to keep up his front of the man. “Well that is to say, I’ve heard the rumors, but I’m from the Okashi District.”

  “Okashi, you say? That’s far to the west, what are you doing here, even you’ve heard the rumors.”

  “I’m here with my friend,” Yuki answered, pointing over to Seiji. ‘Time for a little truth.’ A good lie had some amount of truth built into it. “He’s from the Tsuji family shrine nearby. My friend heard about the rumors a pelled to do something. I’ve been trying to stop him. I’ve been trying to vince him that the UN must have it under trol.”

  “Is that so?” Staring for a while at Yuki, he looked like he might be buying the story. It was still hard to tell. He had an enormous amount of suspis about the two. So it was likely going to be hard for him to accept it all. “What were you doing just now? You looked like you were fighting?”

  The ti seemed, though he was making progress. “As I said, my friend wants to do something. Seeing this shog i has him ag without thinking. So I’ve been doing what I to stop him, even if it means so by forbsp; I don’t want to see him start a fight with you.”

  Part of it seemed to be w. He pulled a little back from his intense leaning. “I agree. Our desire is not to fight, but to keep the peace.”

  Yuki pyed up more of the coward and weakling so that the ma he was superior and in a position of power, though admittedly he didn’t really o do that mubsp; The man carried himself so proudly that he already saw his superior position as a certainty. It was more that Yuki submitted to him in n to challenge him. “Yes, all of this fighting and strangeness has been very scary. I don’t have any wish to fight. I’ve been trying to vince him of the futility of fighting. We just talk to settle things.”

  “You must five my aggression. It’s rare to meet ahese days that actually wishes to have a civilized discussion. Power seems to have goo everyone's head and power seems to be the only thing that they respect or uand. It’s quite saddening to see how much our home and people have ged in such a short time. It really feels like the end of days at times.”

  A momentary slip cracked through Yuki as he allowed the man’s sorrow slide into him. Guilt bubbled up within him. Even though he quickly recovered to keep his fa?ade, it didn’t ge the internal developing maelstrom. ‘The apocalypse...there’s people out there that think I’m some sort of god, but I’m like the Bringer of the Apocalypse than some god…I’m the cause of all of this… I must fix it.’

  Buried in internal turmoil couldn’t keep him from still speaking with the leader. He couldn’t allow his personal matters to ruin the progress he made with him. “It’s all very frightening to see, but I’d like to believe that there is something good to be found ihis.”

  “Good? I wonder if such a thing still exists in this world. It seems that right and wrong have bee blurred and o to prove the meaningless of it all.”

  Their versation gleaned more than Yuki expected. It seemed he might have finally found someone sane in the world for onbsp; A man tortured and haunted by all the evils and trying to do the right thing, but forced to be the evil seen by others in the hope of it being for some small good. “I think there’s a need for more like you. If more thought like you do things could ge.” Yuki extended his hand out as a peace . He hoped this was the end and they might be free to go. The arrest thing had yet to resurface.

  A bit of a curious look came across the leader’s fabsp; He seemed to have noticed something different about Yuki and his words. However, he only seemed to aowledge it within rather than give it words. “Perhaps. Masayuki Ayabito.” He accepted Yuki’s hand.

  ‘I finally found an ho and straightforerson. Hate having to lie, but it’s not like I want to fight. I just o get out of here.’ Yuki smiled, allowing a little of his stature to return now that the footing seemed to level out between them. “Yuki Hayashi. And this is Seiji Tsuji.”

  Everything looked to be ing to a resolution. The tension dropped quickly. However, it couldn’t end so easily. Masayuki might have been someone looking for peace, but his team was not. They looked even more ready to start something now that things were calming down. It only seemed to ahem that things might be over.

  “Ya ’t possibly be thinking of letting them go,” one of the members barked in disbelief. He was actually even taller than Masayuki, the tallest of team of five. It looked like they had finally someohat would give Nerine a run for her money in the height department. And he certainly made sure that the full extent of his height added to his menag presenot that Yuki succumbed to it.

  Eying from the other side, one of the two women spoke in agreement, “You deployed us to put due elements. I don’t like being ordered out for no reason.” The woman looked just barely out of her high school years and still in her prime college years . Even if she didn’t look like a proper college student. She had bright green hair and the dye job was old as her bleached and bck roots were appearing.

  “Stand down! That’s an order!” yelled Masayuki. He might have seemed softer talking to Yuki, but his anding preseurned without missing a beat. The other two in the group held quiet, though still with hungry eyes. Masayuki's and over them made it clear as the outspoken ones made a hesitation in their stances.

  Yuki watched it all ily trying to look for a way out. ‘I was right. He’s keeping them in lih his own power, meaning he is defihe stro of them. They are afraid of them. It’s the only reason they didn’t attack immediately. But fear only goes so far. Hunger be more powerful than fear…’

  Also on the ready, Seiji went back to looking to attabsp; He kept to a defensive position only pnning on responding, but he wasn’t about to act submissive like Yuki. ‘This Masayuki guy must be powerful if they’re hesitating. This might be more iing than I gave it credit for…’ Even Seiji could notice it. The man’s presence owerful, very easily at the same level as Demosthenes and Rheia. The sort that couldn’t be ignored, but preferable not stirred as well.

  Seiji remembered all too well from his first meeting with Demosthenes. All the build up during the journey and after it all finally came to an end, he met the man. The one behind it all, they met while Yuki slept in recovery. ‘He looked like a simple man, an old man just your typical grandfather. But it was just a front. I could tell he wasn’t someoo mess with at just a gnbsp; Hearing that Yuki po fight him, I sort of wao throunch at him too just to see what the talk was about. But just seeing him felt like he was going to crush me, the fact that I was stronger or faster didn’t seem to even affect him. Absolute fiden himself, no doubt…’

  The sense of full itment to a cause came from Masayuki. He still had a bit to go in some areas from someone like Demosthenes, who had age to grant him experienbsp; But even being so young still the ma every bit an equal to the old man in every other way. A man that would crush anyone in front that stood before his ideals. He knew what he wanted and that it had to be done. Someone good itted to a dark path.

  An all too on trait in the new world.

  Unfortunately, even his presence didn’t seem to be enough to hold them babsp; They wanted blood. They could taste it even though none had dropped. Madness had captured them. The same madness g the world.

  “Look at him. He wants a fight,” ehe man again. “I see it in his eyes. He’s just asking for a reason.”

  “Sounds like rogue elements to me,” the woman added in agreement. “I think that’s enough justification to take them in.”

  Masayuki was losing his patieh his men. “Nawabe! Umari! I said stand down! We have more important threats to deal with right now!”

  “I see a threat right in front of me,” Nawabe replied, pletely taken in by the thought of a fight. He already seemed to be sizing up Seiji.

  Umari took a step forward, already self-justified in her mind. “If we let them go they will only cause trouble ter on. They all do! Best to snuff out weeds before they take root!” She charged in pletely ign any further orders with Nawabe quickly behind her in ag. They both went after Seiji, the prime target.

  Peace broke down.