Horie Kei believed that Junko wouldn’t do such a thing, but when the principal presented those unseemly photos, he felt the world spinning, his heart aching.
"She was obviously forced! Can’t you see?! She’s crying!!"
Horie Kei pointed at the photos and roared furiously at the principal. But the principal didn’t care; since the victim tarnished the school’s reputation, she should be expelled. He hoped the matter wouldn’t reach the police and advised Horie Kei to let it go, to at least get some compensation...
Overcome by rage, Horie Kei couldn’t resist fiercely beating the principal, turning him into a pig-head.
The principal called the police, and Horie Kei, worried about Junko, went into hiding, seeking information about her.
According to her classmates, Junko had been bullied since she started high school... It was said that the bully’s father was an official in the Aum Truth Sect, wealthy and influential. To graduate from high school smoothly, Junko silently endured everything.
"A senior pasted Junko’s face onto an adult film actress’s body, creating a fake sexy photo of her... I don’t know how he did it, but the photo looks incredibly real... He used the photo to blackmail Junko, forcing her to take more pictures..."
The classmates also said that the senior was already an adult and would be criminally liable; they suggested Horie Kei report it to the police, and the court would surely give a fair judgment.
Horie Kei verbally agreed.
The next day, with a butterfly knife in his pocket, he waited on the senior’s way to school. To avoid misunderstanding, he politely inquired before acting, asking if the senior knew a high school girl named Junko.
"Ah, her, you’re late, if you’re looking for a JK girl, I have others... That girl was too dull, couldn’t learn no matter what, cried every time, ruining everyone’s mood... But if you’re into that kind of atmosphere, I can arrange something..."
Before the senior could finish, Horie Kei stabbed him in the abdomen.
Bystanders screamed, while the senior begged in horror, but Horie Kei didn’t stop, stabbing again and again, fearing the beast wasn’t dead.
It wasn’t until the sound of sirens approached that he hastily threw away the weapon, disappearing into an alley.
Horie Kei was lucky, as the Toshima District was recently short on police force, allowing him to evade capture once more.
Before being caught and imprisoned, Horie Kei called on his ’old friends’ and hit several big heists on jewelry stores, making a fortune. Then, he hired professional detectives to find Junko; after a round of inquiries, they discovered she had also joined the sect.
Yes, it was the Aum Truth Sect again.
Horie Kei pretended to be a believer, attending several worships, never seeing his mother or sister. His inquiries instead aroused the sect’s suspicion.
Left with no choice, Horie Kei had to venture alone into the sect to find his mother and sister’s whereabouts.
In shallow dreams, he replayed painful memories: rebellious school days, the confusion and ignorance of entering society, the unbearable pain at his father’s death, the desperate anger at his mother’s betrayal... at the moment his family shattered, he could only force himself to stand up again and again, gritting his teeth to continue living.
"Do you long for happiness?"
"Do you wish for inner peace?"
"Do you feel living under immense pressure, utterly lost about your future life?"
Horie Kei opened his eyes; the container was still pitch-dark, the only light source coming from the electric lamp shining through the vent. He lost track of time, unsure of the current hour, only feeling a dizzy head.
A figure sat on the opposite bed; it was him speaking just now, and Horie Kei remembered this man vividly.
"Were...you talking to me?" Horie Kei’s throat was dry.
"Who else?" Fushimi Roku retorted. "Is there anyone else here?"
Horie Kei had a natural aversion to all mystical guys, and even though Fushimi Roku impressed him with eloquent speech, his wariness only intensified.
He must not be brainwashed, must not be assimilated.
This was the bottom line Horie Kei set for himself before joining the sect.
"I don’t want to talk about this." Horie Kei sat up, hugging his knees, staring at Fushimi Roku’s silhouette. He vaguely felt that the figure emitted a strong aura.
"You’re hiding something inside." Fushimi Roku said.
Horie Kei just talked in his sleep, waking him up. Fushimi Roku took the chance to eavesdrop a while, roughly figuring out the young man’s reason for joining the sect. He decided to hone his social skills while lending Horie Kei a small helping hand.
"Isn’t everyone coming back here living an unsatisfactory life?" Horie Kei said.
"I can help you." Fushimi Roku straightforwardly said.
"Just you?" Horie Kei wasn’t being sarcastic. "Aren’t you also confined here?"
"I’m not ’confined’ here; I chose to ’live’ here, and there is a difference between the two."
Before Horie Kei could refute, Fushimi Roku continued speaking to himself: "Do you want to know how to turn passivity into initiative, strengths into weaknesses? Want to know how to escape life’s predicament?"
Of course, Horie Kei did, but he figured Fushimi Roku might again use clichéd rhetoric to sophistry, so he didn’t answer immediately.
Fushimi Roku didn’t mind, taking it as acknowledgment, and proactively said:
"We commonly judge strength and weakness by looking at both sides’ ’Hardware Power,’ such as weapons, numbers, equipment, resources, and so on, but we overlook both sides’ ’Software Power’ — this Software Power is the spiritual power we cultivate and pursue."
"You might find it abstract, so let me give you a specific example: eight unarmed men fighting against fifty fully armed men, who do you think is the weaker?"
The container fell silent for five or six seconds; Horie Kei felt uneasy and had to answer, "Of course, those eight individuals."
Only then did Fushimi Roku continue: "On the surface, that is true, but what if it’s eight unarmed special forces soldiers against fifty armed civilians?"
Horie Kei couldn’t say; he had participated in riots, naturally aware of the gap between guerillas and regular troops. A regular mobile unit was enough to suppress a 50-person riot march.
"You have realized, haven’t you? Only the Comprehensive Power, combining ’Hardware Power’ and ’Software Power,’ is true strength. Every case of the few defeating the many, the weak overcoming the strong, is based on having stronger Comprehensive Power than the opponent."
"In this world, there is no weak defeating the strong, only the strong defeating the weak. After all, if the strong can’t even beat the weak, what makes them ’strong’? And if the weak can triumph over the strong, what makes them ’weak’?"
"Now you must be thinking, anyone can understand this reasoning, but what’s the point? You’re not a special forces soldier, how could you defeat many with few?"
"Wrong, it’s this kind of thinking that traps you in the worldly mire, repeatedly being knocked down by reality."
Fushimi Roku raised a finger, pointing to his forehead: "Right now, I can point out the path for you—a grand path that will allow you to overcome all of life’s obstacles."
Horie Kei instinctively swallowed, feeling a tingling on his forehead.
Meanwhile, Otomachi Hayashi, responsible for delivering breakfast, stood at the door, hesitating to open it; other believers in the container also listened intently, curious about Fushimi Roku’s forthcoming ’life secret’.