Chapter Text
Akito ran through the street, making sure no eyes caught him. This was the hardest and the most important mission in his entire miserable life. No matter what happens, he cannot fail, he will not fail. That's what he promised himself when he got this job. They trusted in his skills.
He looked at his phone and then at the big castle before him. It was so richly decorated to the point that Akito wanted to throw up just by looking at it. It was never fair in his eyes. Million people are starving on the street, fighting for every single bite while people like them had golden everything handed on a plate. From depth of his heart he hoped that they will loose everything and taste how it feels to actually survive.
Akito finally arrived at the brick wall and saw a small crash in it. He checked his phone for the last time and then threw it into his pocket, not caring if it was peeking out or not. He had something more important to do than worrying about a stupid phone he could always steal.
He kicked the wall to make the crack even wider. It took a few kicks to actually make it big enough for him to slip through. He took last strong kick with his feet and finally walked through it. The garden was definitely taken care a lot. Million flowers, perfectly cut trees... True paradise. Akito split his salvia on the sunflower in act of disgust. Those trees probably costed more than everything he bought in his past combined.
Akito looked around and when he saw nobody walking around, it gave his a bright green light to start what he came for. He tugged his hood over his ginger hair, unfortunately his color was almost never blending with the surrounding so he had to mask and hide on every step during his work. At this point he stopped feeling the hood on his head. Let's say it was his close friend.
His legs started moving forward and then turned into full speed run. Actually he didn't really feel any fear that would appear in hearts of everyone while doing something harshly illegal. For Akito it was everyday to at least destoy a thing or two. In the end he was in this castle a year before, he almost died that time but his body was made of fluid that somehow slipped through police's hand. Nobody truly knew who he was and that's exactly what he needed.
He ran through the green spaces and didn't take even a second to admire flowers around. He stepped on them like nothing was on his road. Akito was never type of person that would support that entire "protect the environment" bulshits. Life is already shitty so why would you throwing a trash into the bin save everyone. It was genuinely fucked up and stupid. Well people were never smart in the first place.
Akito finally arrived at the doors to the castle, weird that no guardian stood there, ready to beat the shit out of him. Well it was good for him, less bullets he use, the better for him and the entire group he worked for. His boss, or should he call him "master" was never fan of wasting anything. It included literally everything on this earth.
No putting much thoughts into it, he closed the doors and started running through the hallways. Richly decorated places. Gold was almost everywhere he looked. Around the windows, on the tables even on some walls. This burning feeling of rage and disgust was still strong and longer he ran, more hateful he actually became. It was sickening how rich this royal family actually was. He shock his head and focused on putting one feet before the other.
He tried to spot a special room he was send to find. Well he was sent here just to get as much money as he could. Royal family must be swimming in millions if not more. Aoyagi's family was well known for throwing money around like it was a stupid trash that didn't have any worth. For people like Akito it was stupid and maddening. He had to work hard to get food while they buy the most useless shit on earth. Where was the justice he, and many more people, craved.
"Hey, stay still!" A loud and proud voice called for Akito from the background. Akito's heart jumped a bit but he didn't stop for a moment. Who were they to order a man like him around? They weren't his damn boss.
Akito slowly turned his head to see who it was. A young guardian that pathetically ran after him. His sword was pointed straight at Akito as if wanting to grab him. However Akito quickly realized how young they actually were, by just looking he judged that they couldn't be older than 18 years old. Their young face trying to harden through fear, that made him giggle under his nose.
He quicken his pace and tried to not get into a dead end. Even if it was his second time here, he still knew shit about this place and how it's build. Having a map in his hand would make this entire thing million times easier but of course they didn't provide him with anything like that. Well it will be a bit harder without a clear road but hey, who doesn't want to have some fun? His adrenaline was slowly rising as he continued running.
"H-hey! Stop right there!" The voice got weaker as he was successfully escaping this kiddo. Their voice as well as his steps were fading away as Akito entered through the doors into another hallway. He leaned against the closest wall and took a deep breath in and out.
When he raised his eyes he realized that a big portray was looking at him. He took a closer look at it and tried to spot who it was, it wasn't hard to realize who he was looking at. Dear Prince Toya Tenma Aoyagi. He saw him only on TV or heard people talking about him. Everything created a big image of a proud but serious man. His clothes were always rich and perfect, so was his hair and posture. Even if everything was shinny, his face seemed to show no clear emotion, making it almost impossible to read what he felt inside... Maybe he didn't feel anything inside. Akito wouldn't be surprised, money can eat someone's brain to the core.
The portray perfectly showed the image Akito had about Toya. Serious expression, perfect hair and expensive clothes. Those split colored hair were lightly falling on his forehead and his face. Everything combined gave his a good headache. Seeing rich people always made him feel sick and even disgusted at times. Prince didn't make him feel any different, we can say it fueled his hate a bit.
Not wanting to waste more time than he already did, he looked around, trying to spot a way he should pick to find what he was send for. While his sharp eyes scanned the hallway, he noticed a map. This small paper made him grin more than thought about money. He got closer in matter of seconds and took a better look. Akito wanted nothing but suck the map into his brain and follow it until he swims in money like Aoyagi's family. Well he indeed hated rich people but having money by his side was nice.
He watched the lines on the map, trying to spot a royal bank. It took a moment to spot the bank mark. Shinonome stared at it with a grin on his face, now it should go smoothly, just follow the map and don't get caught by any guardian. That shouldn't be that hard for him, amazing fighter and escaper.
Akito tensed as he heard footsteps approaching. His first instincts were to put his hand on the gun on his belt and run. Quickly, the guardian peeked out and saw his entire person, it send them on alert, something Akito wanted to avoid at any cost. Now that he got noticed, he quickly ripped the map off the wall and started running with all of his strength. If he's quick enough, he will be able to get into the bank and steal what they ordered him, money.
The guardian was definitely more experienced than the last one. They were much quicker and didn't use their sword immediately, in short they knew what they were doing. Seeing the guardian quickly chasing him, made him ready to fight if that was needed. His fingers brushed against the gun on his belt, feeling it's cold structure. Of course he still ran forward, making sure to not slower the pace. His breaths were getting a bit unsteady so he tried to stabilize it with methods his master taught him years ago, they still played loud in his head.
Shinonome looked back and saw the guardian getting smaller and smaller, that mean that he was slowly losing him in the labyrinth of long hallway and different rooms. He had to admit that running on those rich floors was pretty relaxing in his opinion. Well it was much calmer than running through the forest where a small mistake can make him fall or break his leg.
When Akito thought that he has won with the chasing guardian, he turned his head and noticed another guardian standing proud at the end of the room. He quickly stopped and messed the red carpet underneath his feets. When his eyes and guardian's eyes met, he knew that it meant nothing good. There was no doors he could escape through and get away. Of course his first thought was to shoot them until they bleed out but he promised his boss that nobody royal will die this time. They barely escaped last time.
Akito heard the guardian from behind running straight at him. Trying to think about a plan, he realized that there wasn't much he was able to do. Both his sides were blocked and there was a person rushing at him like a bull. He took the last option and rushed at the window on his right.
He opened it wide and quickly jumped out. It was first floor, that was nothing for his experienced ass. In his past Akito jumped from third floor and somehow managed to survive with just hurting muscles, nothing too serious. The wind blowed at his clothes and face before he landed. Akito hugged the map to his chest and his feet finally touched the grass, it was a green light for him to continue running. He heard the guardians in the window screaming something to him but at that time he paid no mind to that.
The man noticed the crack in the wall and headed towards it, he couldn't risk anyone else seeing him now. Enough that like three people saw him running through the castle. Akito's master will be definitely angry that he didn't get money they wanted but at least he got the map, it wasn't much but could be useful to their missions in the future. Aoyagi's castle was full of materials that could make them the richest group in the entire city if not even more. Just by imagining that, a smirk appeared on his face again. He definitely deserved the money those rich people have. At least his purchases wouldn't be so stupid.
***
Akito sat in the room full of older than him people. He was the only nineteen years old man here. Rest of them were around 35 to even 55. Being surrounded by so many elders made Akito's heart beat a bit quicker. He hated spending time with older man, who knows what can get into their head while they are talking. It was probably his stupid brain making him think about the worst scenarios, he couldn't help that tho. These people are capable of everything that's the worst.
"Our Aki got the map of the Aoyagi's castle. That means the entrance is here and the bank is here" His master's voice saying his famous nickname for Akito woke up the man. At this point everyone went by "Aki". Everything thanks to his dear master...
"Does he managed to get inside?" Someone in the room took the voice and asked the question. Shinonome looked at them and thought about the answer, he wanted to sound pretty serious and professional.
"I did not. However gaining a map is a big success for our group. We are able to plan a way to get what we want"
"Yes, indeed. This map is a good source of knowledge... Even so I cannot stop thinking about one thing. Changing our target" The boss moved his eyes from the paper and started studying everyone's expressions to see what they thought. Akito, as a pet, was the closest so he got scanned first.
"Changing our target? Ain't the castle the most rich place? We can gain a lot" Akito felt a bit forced to say that, man's sharp eyes that wrapped around his soul worked like a serum of truth on him. It was hard to say if it was respect or pure fear.
"You aren't wrong, my dear Aki... Although robbing the castle bit by bit can be rewarding but it's very dangerous. As you mentioned, you almost got caught by two guardians. I started wondering if we should try another way... It would be much more interesting"
Akito leaned a bit on the table and watched the boss click something on his laptop and then the board with his presentation changed to another slide. It was just a photo of prince Aoyagi. Everyone on the room seems pretty confused what the man meant by that. He was capable of very... interesting... things so everyone patiently waited for the explanation.
"I cannot help but wonder what would happen if we get the prince himself in our hands. We can do so many useful things with this boy. Sell him, use for our own gain maybe after good training he will be able to work for us as well" The man giggled and placed his big hand on Akito's head. Well this plan sounds like Akito's past here...
"Kidnapping? Wouldn't that be even more dangerous than stealing? I bet that entire kingdom will start looking for his highness" Someone pointed out and looked how the grin on man's face winded a bit.
"Of course, it will be our most dangerous mission. However think about the pulses. If we manage it properly, our bank will be higher than the sky above our head. Isn't it exciting?"
The room looked around themselves, deep in thoughts. Soon they nodded and in the end everyone agreed on the plan. This room was filled with money greedy monsters, Akito knew it better than anyone else could. He saw beyond the greed, even if he was infected with this feeling too. However the difference here was that he actually wanted more than just money and more money... Even if this place planted a seed of green and cruelty in him.
"Amazing. Our spies already worked hard and gave us informations about prince Tenma. He walks with his two royal guardians through the main city around 2 pm in every Monday, Friday and Saturday. Just a short walk, they sometimes enter the shop too. Always the same one" The man put his second hand on his chin as a plan was already creating in his twisted head. "We have to sneak on one of the buildings and wait for one of them entering the shop. When nobody is expecting, we shoot the protector and kidnap the prince..."
"...And I know who will do it" The boss slowly moved forward and met Akito's face, their eyes met for a long and tense moment. Akito's serious face met his smirking face. They started at each other like that for god knows how long.
"Understood... Master"