Chapter 704 - 704: Ugh... Can We Make Peace?

Then yesterday, by chance, he had also seen some information about Haruno Ayato, who had a certain connection to Haruno Kasui. Now that he happened to run into him, he immediately recalled it.

Thinking of this, Anjou Takaya, who had been lying in wait for a long time without any results, grew irritated.

A thought suddenly popped into his head. He couldn't be bothered to hide anymore and directly stood up, walking toward Haruno Ayato ahead.

"Hey, kid, do you know Haruno Kasui?", Anjou Takaya came up in front of Haruno Ayato and asked bluntly.

Startled by the sudden voice, Haruno Ayato turned around and saw a strange young man with dyed blond hair and a fierce look on his face.

He immediately furrowed his brow and asked warily, "Kasui-nee? What do you want with her?"

"So you do know her," Anjou Takaya grinned, revealing the rotten stumps of teeth that Hikari had knocked out. The hideous sight sent an inexplicable chill down Haruno Ayato's spine, "You're her cousin, right?"

"None of your business! Who the hell are you?", Hearing Anjou Takaya's words, Haruno Ayato grew alert, and his tone turned hostile.

Far from getting angry at Haruno Ayato's questioning, Anjou Takaya smiled even more sinisterly, "I'm your sister's friend, Anjou Takaya. Do you know where she is right now? I need to see her about something."

"I've never heard Kasui-nee mention a friend like you!", Haruno Ayato looked at his delinquent appearance and immediately guessed that this guy meant trouble, so he refused flat out, "I won't tell you where Kasui-nee is!"

"You little punk...", Looking at Haruno Ayato, who only came up to his chest, Anjou Takaya laughed and shook his head, "You really don't appreciate kindness, do you?"

As soon as he finished speaking, a fist the size of a sandbag slammed straight into Haruno Ayato's face.

Haruno Ayato had no time to react. His vision went black, a sharp pain hit him, and his body fell straight to the ground, his cheek burning.

"Get him! Tie this kid up. I'm going to use him as bait to lure that bitch Haruno Kasui out!", Pulling back his fist, Anjou Takaya stepped on the boy's wrist and waved to the men behind him.

His underlings immediately swarmed forward and pinned Haruno Ayato down.

Seeing Anjou Takaya resort to violence without a word and order his men to restrain him, Haruno Ayato finally realized just how vicious this man was and how much trouble he meant.

The burning pain on his face also reminded him of what Haruno Kasui had warned him about yesterday.

('Watch out for a guy named Anjou Takaya. If you see him, run.')

He recalled that Haruno Kasui had clearly warned him in advance that Anjou Takaya was dangerous and that he had to run if he ever encountered him. She had even described his appearance to him, but he hadn't taken it seriously at all.

Now, Haruno Ayato was filled with deep regret. The thought that he might be used by Anjou Takaya to threaten Haruno Kasui only made his remorse surge like a tide, but it was already too late.

But what Haruno Ayato hadn't expected was that Anjou Takaya's malice went far beyond what he could imagine.

Staring at Haruno Ayato's delicate little face, then sizing up his petite, girlish frame, Anjou Takaya suddenly crouched down, pinched Haruno Ayato's chin, and examined him left and right before suddenly letting out a laugh.

He'd thought of a great idea, one related to his uncle in the Metropolitan Police Department, Anjou Shuji.

He usually raised hell outside and relied heavily on his uncle Anjou Shuji's connections in the police force.

So to stay on his uncle's good side, he'd sometimes invited him along when he was with women, but his uncle had always turned him down.

Not because his uncle was particularly upright and incorruptible, but because his uncle preferred boys.

This kid Haruno Ayato would probably be the most exquisite delicacy in his uncle's eyes.

"Giving this Haruno Ayato kid to my uncle Anjou Shuji, he'll definitely be thrilled."

"Then I can use my uncle's power to deal with that bastard Hikari and easily crush that little bitch Haruno Kasui however I want!"

Having come up with such a great plan in an instant, Anjou Takaya was quite pleased with himself.

He didn't waste any time and directly pulled out his phone to call his uncle.

After sending over Haruno Ayato's photo, his uncle indeed got excited and told Anjou Takaya to deliver the boy to the designated location as soon as possible.

Anjou Takaya chuckled and immediately followed through.

After taking care of Haruno Ayato, Anjou Takaya called Haruno Kasui.

"Hey, you're Haruno Kasui, right? Don't hang up. I have something to tell you."

"Your brother Haruno Ayato has been kidnapped by my men. He's being 'conditioned' right now. If you don't want him turned into a sow, you'd better come save him soon."

On the other end of the line, Haruno Kasui was stunned, ["S-sow?"]

"That's right, a sow!"

"I've sent you the address. Come alone. If you dare call the cops or bring anyone else, you can figure out the consequences yourself."

———

"That's the whole story, Hikari-kun."

At the school gate, Haruno Kasui finished explaining everything to Hikari. By the time she spoke her last word, her lips were still trembling.

"I understand," After hearing Haruno Kasui out, Hikari had a rough idea of what had happened.

Basically, since Anjou Takaya couldn't get to either Hikari or the cautious Haruno Kasui, he'd grabbed Haruno Ayato to threaten her instead.

"Hikari-kun, what should we do now? Anjou Takaya said if I don't get there soon, he'll turn Ayato-kun into a s-sow. Should we call the police?"

Thinking of Anjou Takaya's threat, Haruno Kasui couldn't help growing anxious.

"Didn't you call the police yesterday? Did it help?", Hikari paused, then said, "If it had, he'd have been in jail by now."

"Uh..."

Haruno Kasui was at a loss, but right now, calling the police was the only thing she could think of.

"Let's go," Hikari said suddenly.

"Huh? Go where?", Haruno Kasui asked, bewildered.

"Didn't Anjou Takaya give you an address to pick someone up? We're going there," Hikari said casually.

"J-just the two of us? Anjou Takaya definitely set up an ambush and brought a lot of people, right...", Haruno Kasui guessed reasonably.

Hikari didn't seem concerned, "It's fine. Just the two of us going is enough."

"Then... okay!"

Haruno Kasui looked at Hikari. His gaze was calm, but it carried a reassuring strength.

Though she was still a little worried, her trust in Hikari made her nod firmly.

Then the two hailed a taxi and sped off toward a spot in the suburbs.

———

Half an hour later, Hikari and Haruno Kasui arrived at the location Anjou Takaya had specified.

It was an abandoned factory complex on the outskirts. It looked like it had once been a fairly large facility, but now it was completely derelict.

The tall brick walls of the factory buildings were covered in deep green moss. The area was desolate, so quiet that the only sound was the rustle of wind through wild grass. It was indeed a secluded, uninhabited place.

"Hikari-kun... are we really going in like this?", Standing outside the rusted gate, Haruno Kasui's voice trembled slightly.

"Don't worry. I'm here. Nothing will happen," Sensing the girl's unease, Hikari made her a promise. After all, he was the one who'd had her lead him here.

Hearing this, Haruno Kasui took a deep breath and nodded.

Though she didn't explicitly think Hikari could take on ten men or anything like that, if Hikari said it was fine, Haruno Kasui was filled with confidence.

It was trust born from having been saved by him before.

Hikari went first, with Haruno Kasui following behind. The two walked together into the pitch-black abandoned factory.

"Ahaha! You actually came, what a stupid woman!", Haruno Kasui had barely been inside for a moment when a sharp, grating laugh came from the left.

"Yo! And you even brought that kid Hikari along. Perfect! Today I can collect all the interest at once!"

Just from that arrogant tone, Haruno Kasui knew it had to be Anjou Takaya. No one else could sound that insufferably cocky.

She turned her head and, sure enough, saw Anjou Takaya's repulsive face.

Haruno Kasui glared at him, but the next second, her breath nearly stopped.

Her entire face went deathly pale, drained of all color.

Because behind Anjou Takaya stood a whole crowd of people.

There were a dozen or so shirtless, tattooed delinquents with hair dyed in all sorts of garish colors. They clearly weren't easy to deal with, and every single one of them was holding weapons, knives, clubs, pipes, obviously meaning business.

But seeing Hikari still standing beside her with a calm expression, Haruno Kasui mustered her courage and spoke, "Anjou Takaya, where's Ayato-kun? What did you do to him?"

"You mean that delicate boy?", Anjou Takaya grinned wickedly, "Boys, bring out that 'little beauty' so our Miss Kasui can get a good look!"

At Anjou Takaya's signal, two blond thugs dragged a figure in a miniskirt out from behind the crowd, their faces twisted with disgust and revulsion.

As if their hands were dirty, they dumped Haruno Ayato on the ground like trash.

"Ayato-kun!", Seeing that familiar small figure, Haruno Kasui called out.

Hearing that familiar voice, the dazed figure on the ground stirred and slowly raised his head.

The siblings locked eyes, and Haruno Kasui froze, as if struck by lightning.

Because the Haruno Ayato before her now looked utterly foreign.

His face was flushed with an unnatural redness, his bare skin stained with yellow-white smudges. His eyes were vacant and unfocused, and the moment they met Haruno Kasui's, he flinched away like he'd been shocked, curling in on himself.

Seeing Haruno Ayato in this miserable, broken state, Haruno Kasui's eyes reddened.

"What... what did you do to Ayato-kun!", Haruno Kasui's voice trembled, her eyes instantly turning red as she ground her teeth and demanded of Anjou Takaya.

But Anjou Takaya just smiled nonchalantly, "Haha! Just dressed him up a bit and sent him to my uncle as a little gift for some fun. Don't you think this outfit suits him? My uncle was very satisfied."

"Y-you beast!", Haruno Kasui stared at the smug, arrogant Anjou Takaya, her nails digging into her palms, her whole body trembling. She couldn't believe anyone could be so monstrous.

"Haha! You've still got time to worry about others, Haruno Kasui. Haven't you seen the brothers behind me?", Anjou Takaya laughed arrogantly, then suddenly straightened his face, his tone turning vicious,."Now, if you get on your knees and crawl over here nicely and take care of me, maybe I'll let you two keep your worthless lives. Otherwise—"

"I'll go first, then I'll have the brothers line up and take turns."

"As for that guy next to you named Hikari... I'll make him taste what it's like to wish for death but never get it."

Hearing this, Haruno Kasui's face turned pale, but she still gritted her teeth and cursed back, "I'm not scared of you, you goddamn beast!"

"Haha! The more you curse, the happier I am. I love it when women curse at me. To me it sounds just like flirting. Anyway, I'll make sure you can't speak at all soon enough," Anjou Takaya didn't care at all about Haruno Kasui's insults.

Because he could tell, Haruno Kasui was genuinely scared.

But when his eyes fell on Haruno Kasui's Hikari, that cocky face suddenly became dark.

"Hikari, why the hell aren't you saying anything? Cat got your tongue? Or did you piss your pants from fear of me and my boys? Huh? Say something," Emboldened by the large group behind him, Anjou Takaya was outrageously arrogant.

"I usually don't waste words on dead men," Hikari finally looked up, his gaze calm.

"Huh? Dead men? Guys, did you hear that?", Anjou Takaya blinked, then burst into exaggerated laughter, "This guy just called us dead men! That's hilarious! Hahahahaha!"

The gang of underlings behind him also burst out laughing, a laugh of crude jokes and mockery. The laughter instantly flooded the entire abandoned factory and made Haruno Kasui's pretty face grow even paler.

"Truly, you won't shed a tear until you see the coffin," Anjou Takaya suddenly stopped laughing and said coldly, "Boys, go! Grab that little bitch Haruno Kasui, and stomp that bastard into the ground!"

"I'm going to play with Haruno Kasui right in front of this guy and let him hear exactly how this little bitch squeals!"

Hearing this, Haruno Kasui's face went pale, and she instinctively stepped back.

But Hikari stepped forward.

The next second, he moved.

No warning, no battle cry, his figure blurred like a phantom as he swept into the crowd.

Haruno Kasui only saw a vague afterimage, then heard thuds, screams, and the clatter of metal hitting the floor.

Figures fell one after another, like wheat stalks cut down by an invisible scythe.

In under five seconds, over a dozen thugs lay sprawled across the ground in a mess, groaning and wailing.

Hikari stood in the center, not even a wrinkle in his clothes.

Anjou Takaya's mouth hung open, his expression frozen on his face as if he'd seen a ghost.

Only after every single delinquent had fallen to the ground did he finally snap out of it.

But he still muttered in disbelief, "What's going on... Am I dreaming? No... this can't be..."

"Looks like it's a nightmare," Hikari was already in front of him, no one knew when.

Smack!

A slap landed viciously on Anjou Takaya's face. His entire body flew back, crashing into a rusted iron rack, sending a few bloody broken teeth flying from his mouth.

"Ugh... d-don't come closer...", Watching Hikari step forward, Anjou Takaya's face was filled with terror as he covered his mouth and kept retreating.

"Ugh... can we make peace?"

[T/N: New fanfic chat—"Genshin Impact: Just Another Guy who Transmigrated". Currently, it has a Powerstones Goal for 5 bonus chapters. It ends on Monday, so rain those Powerstones.]