Divergent Virtue Chapter 2

**"..."**

## Threads of Fate Rewoven

The store was quiet today, not many customers had arrived which left many of the aisles still packed with products. Only a few of the usual customers had come to visit, leaving with very little, with the last customer having left a few hours ago. Takara leaned over the front counter and whistled a tune, as she tapped her fingers quickly on the counter top whilst keeping in beat. Business might had not been good that day, but Takara needed to keep her mind away from it to keep her going. The store was her business after all, and she couldn't stand to see it not doing well, especially at a time like this. Any moment, students coming from schools on their lunch break could arrive and pick up the usual; bags of chips, bottles of soda or packets and cups of noodles. Takara had her eyes set on the clock just around from the counter, watching the long dial tick for every second that went by.

"Nice tune." A voice complimented from the doorway of the shop.

Alerted, Takara instantly moved her gaze to whoever was at the store, quickly changing her position upright with a smile on her face. As the store's manager and owner, she needed to look like she was enjoying her job, and ready to help any customer who required her assistance. "Welcome! How may I help with your experience today?" she cried out, still caught by surprise.

What stood in the doorway was a bulky man, wearing a maroon cloak that draped down to his knees. He bared a sort of wild look to his attire, as much of it consisted of apparel made from a fur like material. He didn't wear shoes, and instead walked around with bandages wrapped around the soles of his feet up his thigh, leaving his toes exposed. The same can be said for his hands, with bandages wrapped around his arm down his wrist, leaving all fingers and thumbs open. The ashen-grey hair he was gifted with was messy, and nearly concealed his intimidating young face. For Takara, however, it wasn't something that she could take seriously so easily.

Takara sighed and wiped her brow with the back of her wrist, "Oh it's just you Shikari, didn't think you'd be visiting today. Thought you had that meeting at U.A. High?" she said relieved.

The man stepped into the store smirking, "What do you mean it's just *me*? And don't bother with the hero name, that's just for business."

"Oh, right. Sorry about that Ezo, it's just been pretty exhausting today..." Takara responding, looking down with a tired expression.

Ezo looked around, walking slowly past all the aisles whilst scanning the shelves, his eyes squinting the closer he got to the end. As soon as he reached the other side, he walked back whilst taking a second look at the shelves, ensuring that he was correct with whatever he was thinking. Approaching Takara, Ezo slammed his hand onto the counter with great force, startling Takara and making her jump. It sounded as though it was strong enough to break the counter in two, but when Ezo lifted his hand, there was not even a scratch or dent left.

"Must've been real exhausting, sitting here all day. Shelves still seem pretty packed." Ezo caught on, a sarcastic and irritating tone flavouring his words.

Takara looked up to Ezo and took offence, leaning backwards on one leg and crossing her arms. "I just stocked them after all the people I've had today. You should know how busy this store gets." she retorted, another lie that Ezo could easily catch onto.

"Oh really? Is what you call, four customers, busy?" Ezo laughed.

Takara turned red with embarrassment, turning around so that she couldn't face Ezo or have him in her sight. "Excuse you? Have you been watching the store the whole day?" she cried out in an unsettled, child-like tone.

"Hell yeah I have. I've been sitting on the roof across the street monitoring the area. Couldn't help but notice the lack of customers coming in and out of the store, so I decided to come down and pay a visit." Ezo explained, looking down and picking up a protein bar from a compartment hanging at the front of the counter.

Ezo handed the bar to Takara before reaching behind and grabbing his purse, with Takara instinctively swiping the bar's barcode under a scanner and pushing buttons into the cash register. "Cash or card? Oh wait, it's always cash, you never carry cards." Takara corrected herself as she held her hand out to collect the pay.

"You know me well." Ezo smirked again as he handed over the coins, carefully placing them onto Takara's hand.

From the corner of his eye, Ezo spotted a certain door that stood out from the rest. Whilst this door had the same design to all the other doors within the store, what made it special was the history that was made behind it. The door stood as an entryway into the lounge room of the store, where employees would relax in before or after their shift, or spend their time during their lunch break. The lounge room was something more than that, however, as it was where Takara and him had officially met one fateful night. The night where Takara had saved Ezo's life after his fight against two dangerous individuals.

"A yen for your thoughts?" Takara said, noticing that Ezo was suddenly quiet.

Nodding, Ezo looked back to Takara and smiled, "Not much really. Was just reminiscing about the time you saved my life, in that room over there." He said, pointing to the door he was looking at.

"Oh boy," Takara rolled her eyes and giggled, "It was nothing, really. What d'you expect me to do? Leave someone, who was bleeding all the way down to his toes mind you, out there in the pouring rain. You had two black eyes, broken ribs, broken leg, broken arm, blood pouring out from cuts all over your body and what not." she babbled on.

"...But you didn't know that till after you rescued me. If anything, I would have looked like someone who had just been in a typical street fight from the outside." Ezo said, his mood turning sour. His face resumed his usual serious and unmoved expression as he looked to Takara, taking her words personally.

Takara could only sigh as the store became quiet again, the awkward silence quickly filling up between the two friends. The two friends just looked at each other as they thought how that night could've ended differently, if Takara had not saved Ezo at all. Her small actions had played a big part in Ezo's future as a pro-hero, and gave him a second shot to beat his brother in the ranks. To him, Takara was one of the best things to happen to him, but to Takara he was just one of her friends, who by chance was able to come across him in time.

"I know what a street fight makes of a man, believe me. And what you looked like was definitely something worse. Besides, going to a hero school had taught me to help as many people as I can without thinking twice. I would help anyone who needed it, no matter how big or small their injuries may be." she answered back, trying her best to comfort Ezo. She wasn't good with words, and was usually the one to be receiving the admiring speeches from her friends. But this time, it must've been her turn to lift someone's spirits up with her own thoughts.

Ezo took the protein bar from the counter and softly smiled, turning his back to Takara and headed for the entrance. "Alright then. Whatever." He said as he walked through the doors and disappeared out of sight.

The store became silent again, leaving Takara to be flooded by her own thoughts. She leaned onto the counter and placed her chin into her palm, which was supported by her arm standing on the counter. It had been quite a bit since things had been that awkward between her and Ezo, but she didn't know how else it may have went. Her mind recounted the last thing she said to Ezo just before he left, stressing whether what she said at the time was the right thing to say. She thought on the words, beginning to think that she may had offended him when she said that. No reason to this, but this feeling of having offended a close friend seemed to flood her head.

"Hi!"

"I'M SORRY." Takara screamed out abruptly, openly yelling out the words she was thinking at the time. Only a couple of seconds had passed before Takara had realised what she had done.

Steph had walked through the doors whilst Takara was busy being overwhelmed with overthinking her talk with Ezo. She was stunned by Takara's sudden outburst, causing her to stumble back in shock. As Takara turned red from embarrassment once again, Takara turned around so Steph could be spared of viewing her distress.

"Sorry 'bout that Redback. You just caught me off guard." She apologised with a tremble in her voice.

Steph shook it off and laughed, covering her mouth so Takara wouldn't be offended. "No need to worry Takara, you're only young, so drifting off in thought is only natural."

Relieved, Takara assumed a happy expression after taking a deep breathe. Even though she could smile on the outside, she was still disturbed within her own thoughts. She just had to try her best keeping it undercover so that she may be able to forget about it. "Thanks Ste- I mean Redback. How may I help you today? Where's little Guy at?"

Steph cringed her lips at the sound of Guy's name, remembering the night before's dispute between the siblings. She wanted to forget about the guilt that weighed her down, but came to terms with the fact that it may be something she's got to live with. Besides, Steph had begun to see Aiko as not just a student for the agency, but something akin to a little sister, which she yearned for when she was little. In her mind, it was the same as siblings killing each other, despite knowing that it was really only one of her siblings involved. For the sake of keeping herself in check, Steph needed to change the conversation quickly.

"How's business?"

"Business is faring well boss. We just regained control over some of the lower levelled gangs in the area. By doing so, we've just settled in as one of the top distributors of Lacolinium, Venside Olafenide, Pitoletine Aldevirase, Apexirodine Levalimus and Specset Abinovate. If you ask me sir, we're slowly coming back to our spot as one of the top gangs in the whole of Japan." Violetta reported, standing across Guy's desk in the large office.

Guy's office in the Black-Blood Triad's headquarters was something grand, furnished with plenty of bookcases storing thousands of stories and information, fiction and non-fiction. Even a fireplace had been implemented into the side, with flames always stoked by those who tended to the building. After coming back after the Japanese Branch's fall, Guy would have to keep the flames lit himself, due to the little staff there was to care for the headquarters. There were tall windows set with long curtains that surrounded the office, giving Guy a good view of the city around him. For a gang that was well street orientated, filled with members who look to come from the slums, Guy's office was something quite regal. Paintings of old kings and queens were hung onto the walls, with a particular painting of someone special to Guy hanging over the fireplace. This way, the fireplace would draw people's attention to the figure painted above it, as Guy's way of paying respect to the subject.

"Angel's Blood, Venola, Liquid Light, Apexi and Specte. You know you don't have to say the full name Ivanov. And what about Trigger and Dryl?" Guy corrected as he leaned into his desk, his face planted into his hands.

"...Apologies but I'd rather not confuse you if I were to use the street names for the drugs. I'd need to be precise in order for perfect understanding, and as I see it you had no problem identifying which drugs they were by their full name. As for your question, we are coming onto a faction who is quite strong with their sales of the Weak Quirk Improvement Drug. But I'm afraid sources for Aldacrate Effinadryl have not been located yet." Violetta answered politely, standing at attention by Guy's desk.

Guy brought himself from his hands and looked at Violetta, baring an unamused expression that was able to send chills down her spine. He hated coming back to fix her mistakes, but found the mercy to retain her position as his second-in-command. She was still loyal, and might have been loyal enough to stay with the gang as it sunk into the ground. He was meant to be done with his gang activity, but felt the obligation as its leader to stay and support it, he wasn't ready to back down and leave it to die. He did indeed build the gang up to where it is now, so it would be quite a waste to see it crumble so fast, especially when he had the opportunity to come help it.

"Very well then. Leave me be." He ordered, swinging his chair around to look through the windows behind his desk.

Violetta bowed respectively and quickly left, the tapping of her boots echoing through the large room as she moved to the door. Silently opening and sliding through, the door could be heard being closed with a loud thud as it was secured in place. A quick sense of relief washed over Guy as he leaned back into his chair, soaking in the information as best as he could. With the Metarutorōru identity dead, he would have to be more careful when dealing with Black-Blood Triad affiliated affairs. Thing was, even with the alias dead, it wasn't enough to save him from a particular someone who was close to the Kowerata girl. News in Japan spreads quick, and without a doubt knew that the news would move out to other countries. After all, a notorious gang leader of a branch known for murder, extortion, trafficking of all sorts was killed fighting against a second year student, also killed in the fray. Be it a main headline or a side report, it was still news nonetheless, and this person would be quite shocked to see the name Kowerata appear within the lines.

*"Need to make a quick call, and see to it that I have members still loyal to me."*

Pulling out his phone from his pocket, Guy was quick to dial in the numbers, every click sounding a bleep that was blurted out from its built in speaker. Swiftly pressing a green phone button on its screen and pulling it to his ear, Guy awaited in silence for a response, with a single drop of sweat trickling down the side of his face. With each second that passed without response, the more nervous Guy was beginning to be as the fear of being abandoned by "friends" was too much for him. The waiting, beeping noise suddenly stopped with a click as a voice immediately answered to Guy's call, a voice that was able to bring a smile of Guy's face upon hearing it.

*"Salve Asha Vahishta. As-tu besoin d’aide?"*

"I assume you've already heard the news?" Guy answered back in a professional tone, paying no mind to the foreign welcome.

*"You've assumed correct. Why I associate myself with a child-killer like you I'll never know."*

The voice had a tone that was condescending, birthing words that struck Guy's heart. Guy remained relaxed though, taking a deep breathe through his nostrils before continuing the call. "So why did you answer the call then?"

*"...Would 'curiosity' suffice as an answer?"*

"It would, it would. Amazingly, you're the first person I've called relating to the matter."

*"Answer my question Asha Vahishta, how may I help?"*

The voice on the phone was firm and straight forward, they obviously didn't want to have their time wasted by simple talk.

"...She's coming for me, I know it well. Am I able to invest in a temporary alliance with you whilst this issue is still afoot?" Guy implored, crossing his fingers for a response that would be in his favour.

There was a long silence, as Guy sat in his chair looking out the window, patiently waiting for words to be spoken from his phone. He sat there still, his very heartbeat shaking his being as time began to slow down for him. This sort of suspense was unorthodox, as this was a request that needed a response at the moment it was asked.

*"Perhaps, however, I would need you to do something for me before this partnership begins..."*