Estrangement Syndrome (Estrangement Syndrome 1) ✅

Chapter Nine

"Hello, Monbon."

Shuei couldn't breathe. A cold numbness overtook his body. He had never seen a gun in person before in his life. He had gotten into fights before, faced down people who pulled knives on him before, but this was the first time someone had ever pointed a gun at him. For a moment, he thought he was about to die. But the gun hadn't fired. There was no smoke rising from the barrel.

"Please open the door fully and back up, Monbon."

The person holding the gun was a tall man dressed in black. A black hoodie with hood pulled tight, dark glasses, and a black facemask. His tone sounded jovial behind the mask. Not menacing. But that made the behavior scarier to Shuei.

"I don't like repeating myself, Monbon," the man said. He leaned forward and pressed the barrel of the gun against Shuei's forehead. "Don't think I'm bluffing. I'm extending you the courtesy of living." He cocked the hammer. "I could pull the trigger and kill you, and still enter the premises. So, open the gate and allow me entry before that happens."

Shuei's breathing came quick and frantic as he looked up at the barrel. His heart was pounding so hard that he thought he would have a heart attack where he stood. W-What do I do? What do I do?

"Shuei!" Renjiro called over to him. "Do as he says!"

"'Shuei'?" the man echoed amusedly. "You're on a first-name basis with the akuma, Monbon? How sweet."

Akuma? Shuei's mouth open and closed soundlessly. He was scared. He'd never felt so scared in his life. He swallowed hard, and with trembling hands he opened the door wider.

The gunman nudged the gun hard against his forehead. "Move."

Shuei raised his hands and began to walk backwards back onto the property. The gunman followed closely behind behind him, but then there was movement behind him. The gunman wasn't alone. Two more men dressed identically to him entered the property behind him. Both were also armed. One turned and slammed the gate closed behind them, locking it.

"Turn around," the gunman said. Shuei gaped at him for a moment before he nudged his forehead again. "Turn and face the akuma, Monbon."

Shuei's breathing was loud in his ears and he swallowed hard as he started to turn. "Slowly," the gunman commanded him. "You don't want me to think you're going to try and run away, do you?"

Shuei slowly turned to face the others. He saw Haruto Taichi, Joji, Nozomu, and, and Kishi. He didn't see Renjiro or Kazuhisa, and everyone looked tense. Where did they go? Oh—they're princes. Did they move the princes into the house for their own safety?

The barrel of the gun nudged the back of Shuei's head. "Kneel—FUCK!"

An arm slung around Shuei's throat and he was yanked backwards against the gunman. He was forcibly turned, and he came face to face with a rock. No—a boulder was more like it. It was half the size as him and floating in midair! Shuei gaped at it, not noticing the gun now pressed against his temple. W-What?! What is this?!

"Nice try!" the gunman shouted. "But we know your tricks, akuma! Try that again and your Gatekeeper dies!"

"Kuso!" Nozomu shouted, and the boulder floated away from them and impacted violently onto the ground a few meters away. Shuei glanced in Nozomu's direction. Did he do that? How did he do that?

He remembered the combustion he had witnessed in midair on Sunday and gasped sharply. Nozomu did that too, didn't he? Does he have telekinesis? Is that what he can do with his mana as a Seishin?

"Let's get down to business!" the gunman announced. His accomplices stepped forward, both also armed with handguns. The first gunman pressed his mouth to Shuei's ear. "Kneel." Then he released Shuei.