In front of the fork in the road

  Hearing the footsteps of the goons, Hayami Reina slowed her breath, even the rise and fall of her chest and abdomen vanishing entirely.

  "Damn it! Another fork! Who the hell designed this alley? The only purpose I can think of for this pce is to help thieves escape! I can't for the life of me figure out why this alley even exists!"

  "Shit, three different paths. Looks like we'll have to split up."

  "No! The boss said to focus on this little brat. She might look like a cute little girl, but judging by her eyes and the way she acts decisively, there's no doubt she's killed before! If we split up and get careless, we might lose our lives!"

  "So what should we do!? Are we not chasing anymore?"

  "Why not chase!? Are you stupid? We just split up and keep looking for a path to track her down. If we're lucky, we'll catch her. If not, once the other brats are captured, we can use them as bait to lure her out!"

  "You're so clever, as expected of you!"

  After that, the three of them darted into the middle alley.

  "Focus on her..." Reina furrowed her brows slightly.

  Looks like that's why she's being chased by three goons. After she split up from Nagato, three out of four of them came after her.

  "But, this actually increases Nagato's chances of escaping. Guess it's a good thing."

  With that, Reina crawled out from the pile of garbage.

  She wrinkled her small nose, her expression showing clear disgust. The smell from the trash was certainly unpleasant.

  Though, as someone from the lowest tier of society in this world, she should have been used to the stench. But having once been an exceptionally clean and slightly obsessive young person, she couldn't quite accept this horrible smell.

  Sigh. I guess I’ll have to wash my jacket when I get back. Maybe I can borrow a spare from Nagato and Yahiko. No, they’ll probably tell me to borrow one from Konan. Forget it, I’ll just throw on a cloak.

  ...

  "Ha, ha, ha." The heavy breathing and the sweat continuously dripping from Nagato’s brow were clear signs that his stamina had hit its limit.

  The middle-aged goon with barely any hair on his head jogged leisurely behind, talking to Nagato as he ran.

  "Geez, kiddo, don’t you think it’s time to stop? You should give up by now. I’m really tired, you know? Today’s supposed to be my rare day off! But that bastard, steel-wire head... Oh, forget that. Just pretend you didn’t hear me, alright? Big uncle’s asking you, please."

  Nagato didn't have the strength to respond, only barely lifting his legs, which felt like lead, trying to move forward. The little brat in front kept looking back and shouting at Nagato, urging him to run faster.

  "Hey, hey, kid, you’re tired too, right? Just stop and rest. Big uncle's already ready to go home, do the mission, and then rest, you know?

  "Please, I’m begging you here~ Big uncle's got a family too, you know? My dear wife is all alone at home. Who knows what kind of wild man might try to seduce her? And my sweet daughter? She could be eyed by some bratty kid from another family! So, I really gotta get home, or my whole life will be ruined!

  "Hey, why are you still running, kid? Aren’t you listening to me? Geez, kids nowadays, no empathy whatsoever. When I was your age..."

  "Big uncle... I gotta tell you, I..."

  "Hey kid, listen to me!

  "I'm telling you, when I was your age..."

  Nagato was barely able to keep going. The middle-aged goon’s voice was like a constant nagging presence, circling around his ears. Nagato could tell that the man wasn’t as eager to catch him as he cimed. Instead, he was just using this as an opportunity to compin about his life, as if he’d lost his mind, enjoying every second of it.

  From his wife’s mild temper before marriage to her endless compints after, from the innocence of his youth to his cynical adulthood, from his sweet daughter’s clinginess to her rebellious teenage years—he went on and on, rambling about everything from how the war was making food more expensive to how they couldn’t even make ends meet anymore.

  Poor Nagato, with his eight-year-old mind and limited life experience, couldn’t understand much of the goon’s endless compints. But there was one thing he did take away from it all.

  That was, never, ever get married!

  This thought was firmly etched in Nagato’s young heart. At that moment, he made a vow—he would never marry! He absolutely would not!

  Finally, after the goon had rambled on about his aunt’s cousin's friend's nephew’s uncle’s son borrowing rice from him, Nagato couldn’t hold out any longer and colpsed to the ground.

  "He wants rice from me, but I had to carry the damn thing upstairs for him! And the bag was heavy as hell, carrying it up to the second floor... Damn, I’m really gonna die from exhaustion! After carrying it up, I had to help them fill the pot with water, cook the rice, then... Hey, why are you lying down? Don’t you want to hear what big uncle has to say? I’m really hurt by this!"

  Nagato, panting and lying on the ground, weakly replied, "Didn’t... you tell me... to stop?"

  The little brat licked Nagato’s face as he y there.

  "Geez, these young folks today, their so-called perseverance isn't worth much, is it? When I was young, I... (omitted 500 words)... So, you’re just giving up? If you do, everyone’s doomed, you know?"

  Hearing that, Nagato struggled to push himself up.

  "What do you pn to do with us?"

  "Well, the steel-wire-head bastard... No, I meant the boss... I really don’t know what he’s thinking. He’s been like that since we were kids, always doing things on a whim...

  "Most likely, we’ll be giving you all a pretty heavy lesson. After all, those street vendors were working on our turf, and they paid protection fees. We’ve got some responsibility too."

  When Nagato heard "heavy lesson," his pupils dited. An image fshed through his mind.

  Konan, Yahiko, and Reina, all tied to wooden crosses with piles of dry wood beneath them.

  "Please, don’t do this! I’ll fold so much paper for you! Just let us go, okay?"

  "Damn it, I haven’t achieved my dreams yet... Mom, Dad, I’m sorry, I’ve disappointed you."

  "...Is this how it ends? Is this all my life was?"

  "Burn them! Burn these damn thieves alive!"

  As the crowd yelled, the dry wood beneath them was set abze, fmes roaring. The three of them screamed as they were burned to charcoal, ughter echoing around them.

  "Unforgivable... Absolutely unforgivable!" Suddenly, Nagato felt warmth in his eyes, and his strength surged back. No, it was more than that—it was beyond even his best state.

  "I won’t allow this! I will protect everyone! I’m going to defeat all of you!" Nagato roared.

  The little brat beside him, seemingly spurred on by the same fury, raised his fur, his tail thickening as he growled like a beast.

  "Oh? You wanna fight me? Well, let me tell you something, kid—big uncle here is pretty strong, you know?" The goon, oblivious to the shift in the atmosphere, continued talking.

  Crash, thud, bam!

  The goon fell to the ground, bruised and battered.

  "This... This wasn’t supposed to happen! I picked the weakest one... Damn steel-wire-head bastard tricked me!" The goon’s head lolled, passing out.

  "I won’t let anything happen to you! I won’t forgive anyone who hurts you!" Nagato shouted as he sprinted toward the market.