The Black Swan Behind (Beauty of Fire)

298 Stronger

“A ballet studio called Dream Moves,” Elisa answered lightly as if it was not a big problem.

“You guys indeed know everything. That’s awesome and scary at the same time...” Emma muttered.

“Since you guys did hide it and you guys aren’t bad people either, we agreed not to tell anyone about it. There’s no need to worry.” Otsuka said.

“Oh... Thanks for trying to calm us down, Otsuka. But I really can’t stop worrying, even just a little, because, there are only girls in my group. It would be dangerous if our enemies found out about it.” Emma explained.

Elisa nodded. “I understand, Emma. You don’t need to worry. In our group, I am the only girl. And I am the most feared person here. I will kill them if anyone dares to speak about you.” the cute girl smiled broadly with her chin up.

Otsuka just looked at her sarcastically. “You’re so proud, huh...”

“Of course... That is reciprocity for my services which always take care of you like a mother.” Elisha answered.

“Then, are you doing the broadcast in this house?” Emma asked curiously.

Otsuka nodded. “It’s in the loft,”

.....

“Would you like to see it? I’ll be your guide,” Elisa offered excitedly.

“C-can I?” Emma asked back with a reluctant glance at Otsuka who looked displeased.

“Of course you can... Come on,” Elisa replied as she stood up from her work chair. Then she pulled Otsuka’s hand to stand up. “Come on, Otsuka... Why are you pouting like that?”

“You invite others to mess his house. I think it’s quite natural if he doesn’t feel happy,” Rachel said softly with an awkward grimace.

“Nah... You don’t need to think about it, Rachel. Once in a while, he should learn to be friendly towards his guests.” Elisa replied.

Otsuka’s radio broadcast room was in the attic of his house. They had to climb a ladder hidden behind the ceiling on the second floor of the house, which had a rope to pull the ladder down and open the door.

Contrary to what Emma had imagined, the room looked very simple with a triangular window at the end.

Beside the window was a set of radio broadcasting equipment that looked very similar to the ones in the university’s old radio room. Otsuka used that old equipment to make a radio broadcast whose source no one knew.

“Wow... So, this is what’s behind the 37.1 AM radio broadcast?” Emma muttered in amazement, more amazed at the simplicity of the room.

“Recently, I haven’t been doing broadcasts much. My friends also haven’t been reporting on street crime as much since the crime rate has dropped since you guys and Jita Kyoei moved.” Otsuka explained.

“Glad to hear that,” Rachel said. “Then, may we know how this all works?”

“It’s a simple way. We’re also not a serious special group like you. We’re just people who always shut themselves in the room and look out the window. From there, if they find a crime, then they make a report to me so I can broadcast it.”

“Well... If the method is just that simple, doesn’t that mean you have a lot of members?” Emma asked.

“Members?” Otsuka chuckled. “We are just a bunch of losers who spend almost all of our time in our rooms. We just interacted on the internet. We don’t even know each other very well. In fact, we’ve never shown our real faces and told each other our identities.”

“You guys, trust each other just like that?” Emma stared in surprise.

Otsuka smiled faintly. “You don’t know what kind of life we ??lead.”

“Earlier, you said about the city’s CCTV. Do you have access to it?” Rachel asked.

“I’m not, but I have a friend who works in the police CCTV department.”

“You do?” Emma and Rachel exclaimed simultaneously with surprised faces.

“The police received huge bribes from the gangsters. It was a direct order from the police chief to all his subordinates that they are prohibited from interfering in any riots caused by gangsters. Yes, they will check the location, but they deliberately only moved when the riots are over. The Handway Police will only come if there is a traffic accident or natural disaster.” Otsuka explained.

“They really are assholes...” Emma muttered to herself.

“Except my friend,” Otsuka replied, “He couldn’t give up his job as a police officer. But he felt his pride being tarnished if he kept silent about what happened. Therefore, he thought of helping me when he found out that I was making a radio broadcast.”

“Then, what is your reason for creating a radio broadcast like this? I’ve never thought of an idea like this in my entire life. Actually, your idea is awesome.” Emma said.

Otsuka sat down on the chair he usually used for broadcasts. “That’s because I was a victim of bullying. That was the thing that made me drop out of school and shut myself up at home until now due to prolonged depression. I was too weak to fight back, so I thought of another way to stop those bastards.”

Emma’s face turned sad. In fact, the appearance of Otsuka, which looked rather gloomy, made her somewhat remember Roger, her first friend in this city – the reason she started all this – the basic reason why the Black Swan could form.

“You don’t need to worry, Otsuka. I promise to destroy all those gangsters. They are the root of all the crimes that occur in Handway City, including bullying.” Emma said.

Otsuka nodded slightly. “I’m counting on you.”

“Actually, there’s something I want to know about you girls,” Elisa said with a thoughtful face.

“What is it, Elisha?” Emma asked.

“Is your group name really Black?”

“Oh,” Emma shook her head with a slight chuckle. “Black is a name I came up with when I first started fighting gangsters. As for our current group, we have the name ‘Black Swan’.” She answered.

“Black Swan? That’s an interesting and pretty name.” Elisa said excitedly.

Emma nodded. There was a look of pride on her face. “We use the swan symbol because we are ballet dancers. And the black colour is a symbol of ourselves hiding behind the black costumes and moving in the shadows.”

“Ah... Can I join you girls?” Elisa asked while linking her hands and placing them in front of her chest. Her big round eyes seemed to glisten like in a cartoon.

“No. You still have to take care of us.” Otsuka answered before Emma could even make a sound.

Emma chuckled awkwardly. “The Black Swan’s door will always be wide open for you, Elisa. But it seems, you are really needed here.”

“Ugh... They really stick to me as if they were my children,” Elisa muttered.

“Anyway, Otsuka. Do you know anything about a group called Black Hole?” Emma asked.

“Black Hole? Yes, they are the centre of all this chaos.” Otsuka replied before letting out a long sigh, “Unfortunately, I know very little about them.”

“What’s that little thing? One speck of information about the Black Hole would mean a lot to us.” Emma said.

“As far as I know, that group is controlled by a man referred to as No.1 with the name of James Kade. Black Hole is the leader of The Deadly Square which contains four large groups. He pulled the four groups into The Deadly Square by force. Black Hole knocked all four of them down. Besides The Deadly Square, they made Dragger the first group to make a lot of money.” Otsuka explained.

“Shit! The Black Hole sure is strong,” Emma muttered.

Otsuka nodded. “I don’t know how much strength each group has because I just watched everything from behind the scenes. However, it that could defeat all four of the major groups consecutively, was certainly very strong. Even, from my calculations, The Black Hole is stronger than Jita Kyoei and your group.”