Sink or Swim: Drawn To The Venom

Chapter 01

Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo, Japan

After losing his job because of his employer's store burning down, an ultramarine-haired young man in his plain dirty white t-shirt and sweatpants walks down the road at 1AM. The expression on his face is a mixture of frustration, gloom and hopelessness, which turns more livid the longer he walks and hears sounds of shady streetwalkers at night fighting each other or killing innocents.
MC: (thinks) "The only thing I ever wanted was the world to end, every year I just felt that this entire ordeal would be over. But no, just.....had to be false hope huh? 5 years since mom died, and nothing's gotten better."
The young man sits by the dockyard and lights up his cigarette, not caring about his health or well being anymore.
MC: (thinks) "Even if this world ended, what would I have to lose huh? I don't need anymore employment, who gives a fuck about some temporary bucks? I'll sell my house, because after all I was destined to be a homeless loser!"
He continues to blow smoke and constantly gloom about his life. Suddenly his ears pick up a disturbing noise, a noise of more hooligans and criminals roaming freely on the streets. As a result, the young man decides to take a peek at the scene. There he witnesses a trio of thugs performing what seemed like an execution of a tied-up couple.
Male Thug 1: "You two have done enough hiding, don't ya think?"
Male Thug 2: "We honestly brought you here to reason peacefully with ya, and we wanted to know where you're hiding the money. But damn this guy won't open his mouth."
Female Thug: "Hey! Wanna torture them until they tell us where it is?"
Male Thug 1: "This guy knows what we're capable of, Rika. Hey buddy, don't you wanna live? Just tell us where the money is and you'll both be set free."
The male hostage stays silent.
Male Thug 2: "Do we have a choice? This guy isn't speaking up!"
Rika: "Hey! Do it then!"
The 2nd male thug delivers a heavy knee blow to the female hostage's stomach. That's when the male hostage is affected.
Male Hostage: "NO! DON'T DO THAT! WE DON'T KNOW WHERE THE MONEY IS, PLEASE LET US GO."
The 3 thugs torture the girl and laugh at her pain while the tied-up man screams for them to stop. The 2nd male thug brings a gun and aims it at the female hostage's knee.
Male Hostage: "NO! DON'T DO....."
Unfortunately the female hostage receives a painful bullet hole on her knee, as a result of the thug's gun. The male hostage screams as he watches his partner being brutally injured while Rika enjoys it.
Rika: "I simply love how he screams! You're one hell of a sweetheart aren't you?"
The female thug looks into his eyes.
Rika: "I've heard a lot of things about you two, besides you two had an associate in the past whom you.....supposedly betrayed because you got the yakuza after you? Do tell me what that was all about."
Male Hostage: "None of your business bitch!"
The female thug delivers a tight brutal slap to his face, making him spit blood out.
Rika: "You lecherous despicable swines, you have quite a history in betraying people don't you?"
Male Thug 1: "Hey! I'm tired of this interrogation, Rika. Can we not perform their execution already?"
Interrupting their execution attempt, a low voice spoke behind them in a tone indicating annoyance "Can you guys shut up? I'm trying to enjoy a smoke here!"
The 3 thugs looked behind only to see our main protagonist, a shabbily dressed young man.
MC: "Keep that goddamn volume down, I come here to enjoy the peaceful night eh."
Male Thug 1: "What the heck? Who is this guy?"
Male Thug 2: "Is he a customer?"
Male Thug 1: "Never seen him before!"
Rika: "Oh look! A witness to this execution, I guess you're here to die as well huh?"
MC: "Bitch do whatever you want, doesn't affect me! Do you really think I'm scared of you dime-a-dozen street thug pricks?"
Male Thug 1: "What?"
Male Thug 2: "Did he just pop out of nowhere only to insult us? How lame!"
MC: "Are you gonna do it or what, you pussies?"
Rika: "If you so desperately have a deathwish, join these 2 in this execution."
MC: "If you're going to kill me, just do it already!"
Rika: "You're so impatient! Let me prepare....."
Male Thug 1: "Hey hey! What's with this weirdo?"
Male Thug 2: "What kinda drugs is he on?"
MC: "I SAID DO IT NOW, BITCH!"
Rika starts giggling, seeing his impatience and frustration.
Rika: "What's the hurry to die though? Don't you have a family at home? Or are you just a lonely loser wandering the streets by yourself?"
Male Thug 1: "Hey hey Rika! Don't overdo it."
Rika: (whispers) "Let me have some fun here please!"
Male Thug 2: "Not now Rika!"
Rika: "Are you sure you're not acting buddy? I mean, don't expect me to spare ya midway and then you go running to mommy. Or are you gonna run away and cry alone like a bitch?"
Our protagonist's eyes start turning red with rage, as Rika clearly hit a nerve on him. The thug girl doesn't shut up, so in an unexpected turn of events our young man spawns a sphere of water and uses it to surround Rika. This shocks the other 2 thugs.
Rika: *muffled underwater voice* "JURO...NAGITO....HELP!"
Juro: "OH NO! This....this can't be...."
Nagito: "Is he awakened too?"
Our protagonist decides to increase the water sphere pressure, resulting in the trapped Rika spouting blood underwater in a painful horrific display.
Nagito: "I'M GETTING RIKA OUT..."
Juro: "LET'S DO IT!"
Both advance and try to pull out Rika, but due to the pressure of the water sphere increasing their arm bones crack, causing them to screams loudly in pain. Both hostages are in shock at this display.
Juro: "RIKA NO!!!!"
However our protagonist lets go of the water sphere, apparently back to his senses.
MC: "What? What just happened.....?"
Nagito and Juro grab the drowned Rika, trying their best to pump out all the water from her lungs. However, it was all in vain as she is now dead.
MC: "Hey! Wasn't that lady going to execute me or something? What happened to her?"
Male Hostage: "HEY YOU! YOU MUST UNTIE ME, THOSE POWERS.....I RECOGNIZE THEM."
Our protagonist turns to the hostage, surprised by such a bold claim.
MC: "Huh? And who are you? Are you a drug dealer just like these scumbags?"
Male Hostage: "LISTEN! If you release me, I'll help you out with your powers."
MC: "Haha! I see, so it's a shonen manga type situation isn't it? Too bad, I'm not that keen on releasing you."
Male Hostage: *thinks* "This guy's got a screw loose or something! How do I convince him?"
Our protagonist then looks at the 2 thugs in despair, as it's evident that he killed their comrade.
Nagito: "You bastard! If our boss got to know of this.....you're dead! DEAD!"
MC: "OH YEAH! Why don't you try to kill me now, thug?"
Another red glare appears in his eyes, intimidating both thugs into fleeing away with their dead female comrade.
Male Hostage: "They were probably right, if you tried to approach their boss he'd probably kill you without remorse."
Our protagonist looks at the hostages.
MC: "Interesting! Tell me about it!"
Male Hostage: "I'll tell you only if you untie us."
MC: "Wow! What a childish trick, it absolutely didn't work."
Both hostages sit in frustration, realizing that they're dealing with a difficult person.
MC: "Hmm.....I wonder what else these powers can do....."
Male Hostage: "Are you gonna leave or kill us or something?"
Our protagonist suddenly has a flashback from his past and he looks at both hostages with a sinister glare.
MC: "I wanna ask you something. What do you think this world is like?"
Male Hostage: "What do you mean?"
MC: "Is it a fairyland? Is it a place where good and evil coexist? Nah! It's a place where you survive only by snitching. If it was a mixed world of good and evil, I would've known."
Male Hostage: "What kind of nonsense are you spouting now? What do you want?"
MC: "I want to destroy everyone, seeing that I may now have the power to. If you'll help me with that then I'll free you."
Male Hostage: "That's so childish, stop this."
MC: "Those are your only options. What do you choose?"
The male hostage is surprised by his cold, inhumane tone as well as the nihilism in his thinking, however seeing this as his only option he decides to agree.
Male Hostage: "Fine! I'll help you regain control of your powers and help you with your motive."
Our protagonist reluctantly frees both hostages. However he suddenly feels dizzy and is about to fall to the ground.
Male Hostage: "H-Hey! Are you okay? Is it the feedback of the awakening?"
He falls in the female hostage's arms, dizzy.
Next morning, he wakes up in his bed drowsy with a slight fever.
MC: "Ahhh what a stupid dream......"
However the one peculiar thing on him is the wet towel on his forehead.
MC: "Wait....who put the wet towel on my head?"
He starts hearing voices from the kitchen, saying "MATSUMI! BREAKFAST IS READY"
MC: "Uh....coming! Wait what? It has to be my imagination.....after all I live alone".
He gets up and struggles to walk into the kitchen, where he sees an extremely unusual sight and gasps. The hostages from before are cooking breakfast for our hero, that too while being barely clothed. The man is completely shirtless and wears a pair of black knee length shorts while the woman is wearing a pink spaghetti top with plain white bikini panties.
Matsumi: "Ahh so it wasn't a dream! You guys really do exist in real life. Also how do you know my name?"
They look behind and greet our hero with a pleasant smile, standing so eloquently before him as if they were owners of a fancy hotel greeting a guest.
Male Hostage: "We brought you this far after you fainted, you really think we wouldn't know your name from your ID card?"
Matsumi: "Cute outfits you've got there.....I mean is that really what you want me to say?"
Male Hostage: "It's summer so um.....we were feeling hot."
Matsumi: "The only people you two would appeal to are highschool panty sniffers and airhead girls who've got posters of vampire men in their bedroom."
The woman giggles while her man acts as if nothing is odd about it.
Male Hostage: "Hey Matsumi! How's your fever now? By the way, I'm Dan and she's Naomi."
Matsumi: "Don't bother with that! Just tell me this much, what the hell happened last night?"
Dan: "You mean.....last to last night?"
Our hero is confused by the question.
Dan: "You slept an entire day, buddy! Discovering your fever was just too much, we almost thought you were gonna die.....but you lived!!"
Dan & Naomi comically cry while clinging to our protagonist.
Matsumi: "Are you guys done with the dramatics?"
The 2 then make him sit down on the table.
Dan: "Enjoy your breakfast, we made it specially in hopes that you'd get up."
Matsumi: "So.....you're Dan! And the bubbly perv on the right.....her name's Naomi right?"
Dan: "Yeah! Well....."
Matsumi: "Hey Naomi! Why don't you atleast introduce yourself instead of depending on this guy to do all the talking?"
Naomi's bubbly expression suddenly turns into one of despair.
Matsumi: "Girl! Can you hear me? I'm talking to you. Um...do you speak a different language?"
Naomi continues to be silent.
Matsumi: "Is she still traumatized from that incident last night....I mean 2 nights before?"
Dan: "Naomi has mutism! I am somehow the only one whom she prefers to communicate with for the past 50 years. Surprising right?"
Matsumi: "That's a fine exaggeration! So you've been together for long and now you understand each other....how lucky!"
Naomi makes signs with her hand, trying to convey something to Matsumi.
Dan: "She's asking you where your family is and what you do for a living."
Matsumi: "And why do I have to tell that to 2 random people I barely met?"
Naomi makes some hand signs again.
Dan: "Don't snap at her, please! She's just trying to keep the conversation on while eating. By the way, your breakfast is getting cold!"
Our protagonist eats the eggs, bacon and toast that the 2 of them had cooked for him.
Matsumi: "This....is very different! I've never had this before, like ever."
He then walks away coldly, ignoring the two of them.
Dan: "Matsumi! MATSUMI WAIT!"
Naomi holds his arm, stopping him from simply walking away.
Matsumi: "What? I thought breakfast was over....aren't I supposed to leave you two alone?"
Dan: "Matsumi! About something you said last night....I mean 2 nights ago, well you might think that you don't fit into this world but look at us. I mean, she can't speak but even she found someone like me."
Matsumi: "Yeah I get it! You're 2 lovebirds who decided to freeload at my house just because I saved you."
Dan: "Freeload? Hahaha! We would never freeload at a poor broken man's home. We got these eggs and bacon just to feed ya with our money."
Our protagonist suddenly undergoes a slight change in his personal perspective. Naomi makes him sit down on the table.
Matsumi: "You what? I mean.....you've got money?"
Dan: "I hadn't completed my story yet. Now listen, for the past 50 years Naomi and I have been...."
Matsumi: "50 years again? What kind of skincare products did you use in those 50 years? What is with that exaggerated number?"
Dan: "WE'RE NOT HUMAN!"
This sentence startles our protagonist.
Matsumi: "Ohh! It's no wonder you two look like highschoolers."
Naomi tries to explain in sign language.
Dan: "Neither of us are human! In fact, I don't know what I even am....or where I came from."
Matsumi: "Ohh great! Yet another alien sci-fi story?"
Dan: "No no I'm sure we're both from this planet, but it's just that......I don't remember what happened before I met Naomi or how I was even born."
Matsumi: "So you have amnesia huh? But you somehow remember your own name as well as the fact that it's been 50 years?"
Dan: "Naomi is the one who calls me by that name, but I don't have any memory of my past."
Matsumi: "I see! So you want me to help you with that?"
Dan: "You catch on really quick young boy!"
Matsumi: "Too bad! You came to the wrong person for help, what kind of leads would you even find considering you couldn't get your own memories back for so-called 50 years?"
Dan: "I just had hope that I could one day find out who I am or who my mother was."
Matsumi angrily stands up, scaring Dan and Naomi.
Matsumi: "TO HELL WITH ALL THAT! SERIOUSLY YOU'VE LIVED LONG ENOUGH WITHOUT A MOTHER, YET YOU STILL LONG FOR ONE?"
As Matsumi throws a fit of rage, the nearby jug filled with water explodes. Naomi holds his hand, trying to calm him down. Dan looks at him with concern in his eyes.
Dan: "Listen! You need to be extremely careful with your powers, most common people don't know about these and well.....if they got to know then maybe you won't be able to....take your revenge on this world. See?"
Matsumi: "Can't I just....."
Dan: "No! You can't simply rush into things like that, we're on your side and we need you to be on ours as well."
Matsumi: "Huh? And for what?"
Dan and Naomi cling to our hero.
Dan: "Just help me find my memories, after that I'll let you do whatever you want with your powers."
Matsumi: "Do you think I believe you?"
Naomi rushes to another room, opens the closet and brings in a suitcase filled with a load of cash.
Matsumi: "What? Isn't this that mafioso guy's money?"
Dan: "You can keep it if you want, the original purpose of this cash was for something else but.....if this is enough for you to support us in our mission, we don't mind one bit."
Our protagonist thinks about it, calmly analyzing as much as he could.
Matsumi: "If I'm getting this money, it probably means you need my powers to defeat that guy and accomplish something different.....isn't it?"
Dan: *thinks* "What? His intuition....how is is so accurate?"
Matsumi: "I'll do it then, but if you do something awfully suspicious.....then you'd better be prepared for me to turn against you both."
Dan: *sighs* "Still so negative...okay then I want you to know our first objective."

(TO BE CONTINUED)