Behind an empty alleyway, a fist crashed into the face of a young boy, sending him flying across the cold grounds. He couldn't scream, couldn't groan. He was beaten so bad he could barely feel his lungs as he breathed.
The man who dealt him the beating — Adrian — a tall, bulky man with the tatoo of a skull on his right arm, grinned down at him. "You had one job kid."
He drove his foot into his stomach, and a cough escaped the boys lips, followed by blood trickling down the corner of his lips. More kicks followed from every corner, from every angle, harder and faster.
The man raised his hand — a signal for his men to lift him up and they did. They held his arm out, leaving his entire chest and stomach open.
"You know kid, sometimes in life all that matters are the decisions you make. And you sure as hell made a stupid one." He pulled out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter from his pocket.
"I don't want to do this kid, but you're leaving me no choice." He lit a cigarette and put in it in his mouth. "Where is it? Where is my package?"
The boy looked at him, barely conscious as drops of rain fell on his dull face. His eyes were shallow. Empty.
He didn't flinch. Didn't resist. Almost he was already used to it.
No response.
The man threw another punch that knocked his teeth out instantly, and lifted his bruised face just enough to stare at him as the rain poured down harder.
"Where is it!?"
Silence.
Everywhere was perfectly still and you could hear the sound of the rain beating the dumpsters.
Adrian's jaw tightened, and he spat on his face. He drove his fist into his stomach, then shoved his head into the ground.
"Boss."
His men called out to him, but it was like he couldn't hear anything, and he shoved the boy's head repeatedly to the ground.
"Boss!" One of his men's voice finally reached him, and he stopped.
But by that time — he had done more harm than intended.
"Is he still breathing?" One of them asked.
"He better be." Adrian put his fingers on his neck, and he got a pulse back.
"Good, he's still alive." He got up, took a deep breath as the pouring rain trickled down his hair.
"Damn it!" He gave a frustrated sigh and kicked an empty can beside him — so hard that it dented when it hit the dumpster. "You'll pay for this kid, I'll make sure you pay for this."
Then they all left, leaving the boy behind, battered and bruised, his blood painting the alleyway in the dark of the night.
General Hospital — Later that night
The fluorescent light bulb in the room flickered softly over him, and he sat besides a bed. On the bed was a woman — with several wires plugged to her body, and an oxygen mask strapped over her nose.
The sterile scent of antiseptic clung to the air like a second skin. The machines besides her whispered softly to his ears, and the heart beat monitor pulsed with green lines — a reminder that she was still alive.
The young man sat there — his face bruised and injured, and the blood dried up on his face. After he gained a bit of consciousness, he left the alleyway and came straight to this room.
The young man's name was Kazuki Matasuragi, and the woman he sat besides, was his mother — the only family member he had left.
He stared up his ceiling, tired.
Empty.
Then the memories came flooding back.
Five years ago, they were a happy family of four. A loving mother and father, a cute little sister and the stubborn first son of the Matasuragi family.
They weren't poor but they were not that rich either. Just an average family trying to survive in a harsh world.
But then it happened — the day their lives changed forever. His father and little sister lost their lives in a car accident, and the happy family of four became a grieved family of two.
Ever since — life was tough, each day was a struggle to provide for the next, he even had no choice but to drop out of school.
Then it happened.
One day, his mother collapsed.
He rushed her to the hospital and she was diagnosed with brain cancer. It was still in it's early stages, but that's where the problem was.
Before the doctors could start the treatment, he needed to pay a sum of money — A whooping $50,000.
Where could he find such a large sum of money?
He couldn't even afford to go to school, all he had that was worth something was his favorite novel his mother gave him just before she fell into a coma.
"Hey mom, you know today is my birthday. I didn't do anything much, just the usual, I read Path to Awakening. Xander is so goated, but he's too forgiving, that's why he kept letting Mira betray him over and over again." He murmured with a forced smile.
Silence.
He kept his eyes on her — almost like he was waiting for a miracle to bring her out of her coma.
"Mom." He called again.
But still — there was no response.
He stood up, approached the bed and smiled as he took a glance at his mother. "I got another job today." He chuckled softly, but not out of laughter, but of pain.
"It was one of the worst I've ever received since that day. They wanted me to pick up a lethal poison and kill the son of a rival boss. An Innocent three year old kid. I've done a lot of bad things, but this I couldn't... I just couldn't. So I disposed of the lethal poison before they could get their hands on it."
Then, Adrian's words sunk in.
Decisions.
They were like two sides of the same coin. A fucking gamble. Once flipped, every decision you made rests on what side of the coin is facing upwards when it hits the ground.
It may be good. It may be bad.
But every decision has it consequences, that was the reality of it.
And when it came down to his turn, he did the unthinkable.
He reached out to his mother's ex — a notorious crime boss.
But who could blame him?
Wouldn't you make a deal with the devil if it meant you could save the ones you love?
But that only marked the beginning of his torment. In exchange for his mother's life, he became the errand boy for Adrian's mob.
They used him to market hard drugs and for a while he did.
Then one day, he snapped. And the torture began.
Each defiance left him with a dislocated finger, a bruised spleen. And in the worst case scenario — a broken arm.
But despite his suffering, he kept going, just for the sake of his mother.
"Wake up mom." He pleaded softly.
"Damn it... Damn it... Wake the hell up mom!" He broke down in tears, begging like she entered into a coma on purpose.
"Even after everything we've been through you still want to leave me behind? No I refuse..." He fell to his knees — his head rested on her bed.
"I hate you... I hate you... I hate you because after all my efforts you're still on the verge of death, do you know what I've been through? Do you know what I've suffered just so you can get up? I hate you! If you want me to forgive you, just wake the hell up!"
He continued sobbing.
Then the doors creaked opened, and a woman in a lab coat entered with a tray, she was his mother's assigned nurse — Victoria, only then he stopped crying.
He sprang up to his feet immediately and wiped the tears off his face.
Victoria placed the tray besides his mother's bed, it contained an IV bag and a syringe she intended to swap out with the one already in use.
"How is she?" He whispered.
"Her vitals are stable, but she's showing no signs of recovering. It doesn't mean the treatment isn't working, but until she wakes up, we don't know if it was effective or not." She said quietly, the bruises on his face didn't surprise her.
After all, week by week he came into the hospital looking like that.
"You should report them to the police."
Kazuki didn't reply.
"That's the only way this will end." She sighed almost immediately.
"No... I can't, not anymore." He said quietly, he was already caught up too deep in it, reporting the gang to the police would just make them take action against him, or worse — his dying mother.
"Then at least get yourself treated. Please, it might not be my concern, but I can't just sit back knowing each passing day there's a possibility it'll be you on this bed." Victoria pleaded with him.
He turned his head towards her, his voice rough but steady. "Fine." He accepted her request for one reason.
She was the only one who showed him kindness since the beginning, he had reached out to his family, his so called friends.
But they all turned him down — some even threw harsh words at him.
God's greatest mistake. Infertile bastard. They blamed him for everything that happened to his family. After all, he was the only one alive and healthy.
They considered him as a cursed that'll destroy the lives of everyone he came into contact with.
But it didn't matter to him.
"Thank you, I've already spoken to the doctor at the end of the hall, you won't have to pay for treatments."
He stood up and left.
And Victoria smiled. She didn't need his appreciation, she didn't need his praises, all she wanted was to see the smile on his face when his mother finally woke up.
And how would that be possible if his two front teeth are missing?
Kazuki walked over to the end of the hall, lost in thoughts.
He was weak. Tired.
He couldn't remember the last time he slept.
All day he ran away from his mother's ex and his men, but eventually they caught him, and gave him a beating no seventeen year old should ever receive in his lifetime.
Just then, his eyes caught a shadow just outside the hospital's hallway window on the third floor — and he turned his head to the window.
He saw Adrian standing in front of his car, staring back at him as if he was a ghost.
Then Kazuki realized it.
"Mom!"
BOOM!
A deafening blast shook the halls, tearing the rooms apart one after another. Flames swallowed the hospital, and the force hurled Kazuki through the window.
THUD!
He landed with a loud thud, his body smacked hard against the cold grounds, his legs were broken and shattered, and his head bursted open.
The flames consumed the hospital, burning everything in it to ashes — including his mother and Victoria.
Adrian walked up to him as his consciousness faded, and he crouched down. " Good grief, I said I'll make you pay but I didn't expect you to get caught in the crossfire. With each defiance you made my men tortured you, but you endured it all. Then I thought, if I can't break you physically. I just have to break you mentally."
He glanced at the burning hospital.
"So I decided to burn your mother alive and make you watch the consequences of your decisions to go back on your promises. Oh well, at least now I don't have to worry about you coming back for revenge. Say hello to your mother for me."
He stood up and left.
The engines of his car roared to life as sirens filled the air, and he sped down the road.
And that's when it came to him. His eyes turned slowly to the burning hospital. This was the results of the decision he made. The result of him trying to save the only person he had left in this world.
This was the price he paid for happiness, and now, it cost both of them and an innocent woman her life.
Silence.
That's all he could hear as his consciousness slipped away from him.
"You... Bastard..."