Between Bread and Bullets

Ⅰ

The world looked ordinary.

Every morning, people left their homes for work while students hurried toward their schools, their routines blending into the familiar rhythm of everyday life. Shops opened at sunrise, restaurants welcomed their first customers, and trains arrived with almost mechanical precision. Even after sunset, the cities remained alive beneath a sea of glowing lights.

To the average person, nothing ever seemed unusual.

But appearances were deceiving.

Beneath those same bustling streets existed another world entirely—one hidden from the eyes of ordinary people.

A world where information carried more value than money, and loyalty could determine whether someone lived long enough to see the next sunrise. Powerful organizations waged silent wars over territory, influence, and control, all while remaining invisible to the public. Weapons changed hands through underground channels, alliances were forged in the shadows, and entire districts answered to rulers whose names never appeared in newspapers.

When dawn arrived, every trace of violence disappeared as though nothing had happened.

The streets were washed clean.

The bodies were gone.

Life continued.

Then, when night fell once more...

the true rulers of the city emerged.

Among the countless organizations that operated within Japan's underworld, one name stood above the rest.

Teikoku.

An underground empire feared by both criminals and law enforcement alike. Its influence stretched across multiple prefectures, reaching places even the government struggled to monitor. No one knew the true extent of its resources, how many people worked beneath its banner, or where its headquarters was located.

One thing, however, was certain.

No one challenged Teikoku...

and survived.

At the center of the organization stood a single man.

Akashi Seijuro.

At only twenty-four years old, he had already become the undisputed leader of Teikoku. Calm, intelligent, and terrifyingly composed, he possessed the kind of authority that required no raised voice or unnecessary threats. A single glance from him could silence an entire room, while a single order was enough to determine whether someone would continue breathing by sunrise.

People referred to him as the Emperor.

Not because he demanded the title.

But because everyone had already accepted it as fact.

Standing beside him were four individuals whose names alone were enough to send experienced criminals into silence.

Aomine Daiki.

A fighter whose monstrous strength and overwhelming instincts had earned him the reputation of being Teikoku's deadliest close-range combatant.

Kise Ryouta.

A prodigy capable of adapting to nearly any fighting style after witnessing it only once, making every encounter with him unpredictable.

Midorima Shintarou.