Chapter Text
He sat at the end of a rowing boat, staring ahead at the island which would be his home for the next six years. The island was presented as a paradise, and heavily monitored, but everyone was quick to figure out during the passage there that the island wasn’t anything but a lawless land: despite its appearance as a resort.
For Heizou, the island did symbolise new beginnings like the government wanted to pretend it did. Of course, this was for a reason that had nothing to do with the government, and more to do with the fact that his brother and father wanted absolutely nothing to do with him.
The last person to show Heizou proper compassion was the youth worker who had come for him a month prior. The government wasn’t stupid, it wasn’t that they wanted all the children dead: it was that they didn’t want to deal with them. This was what Heizou had come to believe about the system, regardless of whether or not it was true.
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The first place that Heizou found himself drawn to in the wake of his landing on the island was two siblings. Lyney & Lynette. The two appeared to be close to him in age, though Heizou was unsure whether he could trust that detection.
The girl was the first to introduce herself, though the brother seemed warmer in a way. As if the girl was speaking to him out of obligation, where the boy, Lyney, was happy to chat away.
Heizou was unsure which of the two he preferred right off the bat, though it was because of the duo that he had somewhere to sleep and eat that night. No matter what would become of them, they had at least provided for him. It was strange to Heizou.
Stranger still was the roomer that the resort the island was presented to had its locations overrun by a group of fellow teenagers. The Fools. Heizou found the notion preposterous. Kids running something? What made them think that they could succeed where adults had failed.
Heizou had quickly settled into the resort, which was run by The Fools, despite his idea that such a place could not prosper. He found himself among the rare few, who were in fact prospering in the environment.
Lyney, for one reason or another, had taken a liking to Heizou. This meant that he was unknowingly receiving special treatment, or so, he hadn’t known, until one of the fellow members of the resort, a 16 year old named something along the lines of Kayak Albertrich, had snapped at him.
Even then, Heizou wasn’t completely against the resort. Suspecting that his special treatment would go away, once he turned 13, and that he was just slowly being eased into the life of the compromised as the general populace had called it back home.
This illusion was shattered, when Heizou’s 14th birthday rolled around and instead of gaining more work as he aged. He seemed to get less and less. That was the year that the boats came for Kayak Albertrich, and Heizou saw him no more. Still despite realising the unfairness of it all, Heizou made no move towards stopping it, opting to relax in the comfort of his hotel room.
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In the resort area run by THE FOOLS and a little to the west sat Heizou underneath a tree, drinking out of a coconut completely unaware of what was going on in the basement. He had some idea that certain things were not as they appeared, though nothing concrete enough to actually get him to properly investigate.
Last night, he had considered it. However when lingering near the door, Lynette found him and brought him to her office on the second highest floor of the hotel. The two spoke about what it meant to truly be happy and fulfilled at the island. Heizou claimed that the best way to get through the day was to have something to be busy throughout it, and Lynette pointed out that he currently had no responsibilities.
She of course wasn’t wrong. Which is partially what bothered Heizou, the reason he was so determined to find something wrong with the way that THE FOOLS were running things despite his lack of accomplishing to do so.
Around lunch time, he set out towards the area that had once been known as Wavey Bay, he wasn’t exactly sure what led him to doing this. Perhaps it was the lack of people that were around him on the hill, or perhaps it was his thoughts still running wild from last night.
What he found was practically what he expected, there was one or two kids every so often but the area was mostly empty. There had once been a group which made themselves incredibly acquainted with Wavey Bay, from what Heizou recalled. A group that was known as WANGSHENG.
That was decades ago, before Heizou’s older brother was even born. The group was so famous because they were the first group to ever go into the compromise as friends, and make it out all together, still as friends.
As he continued to scout around, he took notice of two girls. One he had caught glimpses of before that he was pretty sure was named Ayaka. And someone he hadn’t seen before though had something familiar about her.
Walking closer, he noticed that the two seemed to be sinking. Mud. Back in the day, when the island was a resort, Mud hadn’t truly been a problem. Though these days, a solid chunk of Wavy Bay had become quite muddy.
“Hey need help,” The question left his voice before he had realised. The main thing running through his head was the fact that members protected by THE FOOLS were not supposed to help outsiders. Though granted his failure to find out what was beneath the resort, how could he turn away people in need? “I’ll get you.”
Snatching a branch from a fallen tree, Heizou held it out towards the small girl first. Now that he was up close, he recognised why she was familiar. Adorned on her, was one of the symbols of the Tenyrou commission. The same place that Heizou had been born into.
Once the child was safely out of the mud, he reached the stick over to Ayaka. Just when it looked like he had finished saving them; the stick snapped sending Ayaka deeper into the mud. Without thinking, Heizou found himself running along the edge of the muddy hole and reaching out as far as he could.
Still, there was no way that he could reasonably reach Ayaka. She was going to drown, and it would all be his fault. Until a strange burst of wind seemed to pull Ayaka toward him. Their hands met in the nick of time, and if Heizou hadn’t been so focused, he may have wondered what just happened.
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Heizou sat with Ayaka and Sayu around a makeshift campfire. He explained that since he had helped them, THE FOOLS would most likely turn him away. Ayaka offered for him to come with her and the girl who he had learnt was Sayu, to where THE ADVENTURERS lived.
Which led Heizou on to explaining that while he was planning on going to Guiztli Ridge, he was first going to figure out what exactly it was that THE FOOLS had in his basement. Then THE ADVENTURERS wouldn’t have a reasonable clause to turn him away.
He was aware that he was their enemy, but since Lyney would figure out he had broken a rule sooner or later, Heizou would soon have a common enemy with THE ADVENTURERS, and without something to offer in return for sanctuary. What chance did Heizou stand in getting a place in Guiztli Ridge?
After his explanation, Heizou encountered the most shocking statement he had ever heard from Sayu: “we’ll help you! Won’t we Ayaka?”
Ayaka stifled out a sigh and stretched. “Yeah. It’ll let us get back at those fools, anyway, no? Besides, we have no reason to believe we’d receive sanctuary either.”
Heizou could only stare blankly. For some reason, these two people were willing to help him? He let out a morbid chuckle of his own. “Messing with them would be absurdly dangerous, you know.” He could only hope pointing this out would convince them to turn away.
“Eh, say we were planning on stealing from the fools,” Suggested Ayaka, seemingly ignoring the warning of absolute and utter danger, “and that you caught us so you took us prisoner.”
Sayu nodded. “I mean, saying we gave you a run around would definitely help explain your absence.”
With that, as much as Heizou attempted to tell himself it wasn’t. It was decided, Heizou and his new friends were going to tempt fate itself.
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Lyney sat at the fountain waiting for Heizou as he expected. Ayaka and Sayu had their hands tied behind their back with sticks, as best as Heizou could manage. The two were also covered in mud, and twigs, alongside Heizou himself. This way, their story would appear to hold some weight.
“Heizou, I haven’t seen you all day!” Exclaimed Lyney with what appeared to be a sad head shake. His sister, Lynette, seemed to produce herself from the shadows when Lyney realised that Heizou wasn’t alone. “Ah, Lynette, it looks like we’re going to need to add two guests to our itinerary? Say Heizou, who might these two be?”
Heizou felt saliva building up at the end of his mouth. Though they had already come this far, and they had even skipped dinner in favour of preparing for this. “Two people I found plotting to steal from you, Lyney.”
Lyney’s eyes seemed to shine when Heizou said his name. To be frank, anyone who said Lyney’s name made him seem to shine. “Well, well, well, that’s not swell! Now Heizou, I have something I’ve been wanting to talk to you about all day,” Lyney went on, almost as if he didn’t care.
Heizou thought for a moment that he didn’t believe him, until Lyney gestured for Lynette to take the prisoners away. Which wasn’t the plan. It was only now that it truly dawned on Heizou that they hadn’t created a proper plan.
Lyney took Heizou up to the penthouse, and explained to him that Ayaka and Sayu would be visiting Lynette for interrogation while the two talked. Which helped calm Heizou down, since when Lynette wanted something, she did it just two floors below the penthouse.
On his way down, he would make his way to Lynette’s floor and.. Well what could he do? He’d definitely have to figure something out. That much was for sure, he couldn’t just abandon Ayaka and Sayu.. could he? Besides, any moment Lyney could snap and reveal he knows that Heizou broke the rules..
“Still your nerves, Heizou,” Lyney said, pouring a cup of tea. Heizou had been surprised when he first came and was served tea, but if you picked up a skill, or a recipe before age 12, and found the ingredients on the island.. Well you could make almost anything that met the criteria. Heizou himself, however, is still unable to make anything beyond a lousy sandwich.
“I merely want you to do something for me tomorrow.” Lyney ran a hand through his hair, as if trying to make sure he looked good. Heizou found the action stupid, but non-surprising. “We have a special guest, almost as special as you in the basement,” Lyney continued speaking.
At the mention of the basement, Heizou could only remember the amount of times he had seen Lynette come from it. Or heard, something sounding like sobbing. “And I’m thinking, that she may have a better time, if we provide her with a friend…”
Lyney’s voice seemed to trail off. And then it hit Heizou what exactly Lyney was getting at, what was currently wanted from him.
“And I was thinking that tomorrow, you could try and be that friend.”
Without much weight to it, Heizou could only ask one question in response. “And if I were to refuse?”
Lyney let out a laugh, “You wouldn’t, you’ve been eying that door all year. Though,” Lyney’s eyes seemed to pour into the very essence of Heizou’s being: “If you don’t I’ll tell Lynette that you broke the rules. She’s been itching to arrest you.”
Heizou went to respond but before he could, a finger was placed on his mouth. “Shh, my little prize, If you help me.. I’ll let you and your new friends go.”