Sinner [Suoh Mikoto]

➳ Greed

❝She crosses quietly, and her movements are a silent harmony❞

          That morning I got up earlier than usual. I had barely been able to sleep because of my nerves but I knew it was worth it. That day, I was finally going to walk into that bar and confront the Red King and ask him to accept me into HOMRA. Why? Simple. By that time I was sick of walking around Shizume in fear, sick of watching my friends die as they were caught in the crossfire of the gangs fighting for control of my area, sick of wondering every time I said goodbye to someone if that would be the last time I would see them.

        Shizume seemed like a 'peaceful' city as long as you moved through the main streets and avoided neighborhoods like mine. Neighborhoods where street gangs were killing each other, in an absurd attempt to gain more power to one day be able to take on the big clans of kings. Idiots... As if that would ever happen. No matter how many people they recruited, no matter how bloodthirsty and aggressive they were, they would never measure up to a king. Although I had only seen two kings in my life, it had been more than enough for me to realize that.

          The first time I saw them was when I was still a student in Ashinaka. I remember it was a cold and boring winter day when the only thing I felt like doing was going back to my room and getting under the warm sheets of my bed and not coming out until summer.

          I was about to fall asleep in history class when an explosion on the school grounds interrupted the teacher and caught my attention. I have always been a curious one so I wasted no time and, in just a few minutes, I was at the origin of the explosion.

          There, a rather cute chestnut boy was holding one of my companions by the collar of his shirt, lifting him a few inches off the ground. He looked angry and a red aura enveloped him. The only thing I could think of at the time to justify that aura was that he must be a strain.

           How wrong I was.

           At the feet of the aura boy, I saw the remains of a charred backpack with what seemed to be a bottle inside. As I looked back at the boy he was holding, I recognized him as one of those who used to be in the chemistry lab and inferred what had happened. Whatever was in that bottle, it must have been something flammable and, judging by the brief sensation of heat that the brown man was giving off, he was the one who had caused it to explode. Was it that strange aura he was emanating?

         Before long, a group of kids who looked like gang members —and clearly didn't belong to the school— joined him. Apparently they called themselves 'HOMRA' and the leader was a sexy red-headed guy with a bored look on his face.

         It turned out that the lab boy had asked out the chestnut's 'girlfriend' or so it was assumed. I never knew for sure as the chestnut's friends laughed telling Chitose (as the aura boy seemed to be called) that the girl in question had told him she didn't want to have anything to do with him because he was a 'punk with a playboy complex'.

         I guess you can imagine what happened next. That's right: Scepter 4 made its appearance to restore order and both sides began to fight.

         At first I thought HOMRA had nothing to do. Scepter 4 was under the protection of the Blue King while they were just another gang of the bunch despite that Chitose guy having that red aura. But that was before seeing the same blue aura emerge around Munakata while all the HOMRA members were surrounded in a red one.

         At that moment, I understood that HOMRA was much more than a gang. Those guys were part of the red clan and, their leader, the King.

         Who won the fight? No idea. The teachers made us go back into the building so nothing happened to us.

         The last thing I remember from that day was gawking, admiring that redhead with the golden eyes.

        That same weekend, taking advantage of the fact that I had permission to leave Ashinaka, I returned home to investigate the kings. Up to that point, I had never given it any thought. I knew they existed and little else. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that, in my absence, the red clan had been gaining importance until almost reaching the level of Scepter 4 and its headquarters was a bar called HOMRA a few meters from my house.

        Before opening that door, I stopped to catch my breath and take courage. I was afraid that he would reject me since I had not seen any women in HOMRA. There was a girl, but she was a strain so she was probably useful to them while I.... well, if I could do anything by myself I wouldn't be there, looking for some power. I was weak and I wanted to change that.

         Scepter 4 was too formal, too straight and strict, and Munakata scared me. Not Munakata in particular but the kind of person he was, a calculating man who always had everything under his control and always had an ace up his sleeve.

         Perhaps part of my dislike for Scepter 4 was because in my area police-like authorities were frowned upon. You have a warrant for someone's arrest? You'd better leave, they won't let you in, let alone take anyone with you. However, if you want to look for him to settle a score, there are plenty of people who will tell you where he's hiding and even offer to guide you. That's the kind of neighborhood I lived in. The authorities distrusted us and we distrusted them.

         Besides, if I joined Scepter 4 I would not only be betraying myself but I would have to leave my home for becoming a 'traitor'.

         On the other side was HOMRA. Wild, violent, impulsive. The opposite of the blues. HOMRA had no laws, they acted on their own but they always took care of each other.

         Between those two options for strengthening myself, my choice was clear. Still nervous, I raised my head and, trying to appear confident, I crossed the threshold of that door in search of my long-awaited power.

First sin: greed.