The Summoner And Contractor System -1 Prologue; Companionship In Death

'Another week's worth of survival, huh?' a youth covered from head to toe in dirt, oil, and stains, a rather sc.r.a.ppy appearance to venture with, walked alongside the sidewalk. In his hands he held a check, the only thing aside from his hobbies which could put a smug smile on his face. The direction he was walking in was none other than the way toward the bank.

Most people would go home and wash up after work, then go cash their check in later. The man, being impatient as always, had different ideas however. Growing up as an orphan made him realize that there was a lot more to life than paying attention to other's perspectives about how he lived and that he should live every moment to its fullest potential.

Ignoring the myriad of gazes, some of concern and others of disdain, he walked down the bustling street whilst listening to music. As he walked, he kept thinking about going home, playing some computer games, and thought deeply about ordering a Hot-N-Ready Pizza, only to have looked up and realized that he had already arrived at the bank. Removing his headphones, he opened the door and entered, expecting the bank to be like any other week when he cashed his check, only to find-

"Hands up, no one is allowed to leave!"

A gun was pointed directly as his chest, held by a man with an average-build whose face was covered by a cliche-looking robber mask. Knowing it wasn't the time for jokes, the youth holding his check immediately complied.

'd.a.m.n, I'm only trying to cash my check. I understand the premise of "wrong place at the wrong time," but this is just ridiculous!' The youth fumed in distress, while he walked in a trembling manner over to the wall where another robber, this one with a brawny physique, forced everyone to line up. While the youth had always joked about having another week's worth of survival relying on his current pay, he had never felt the fear of being so close to the lingering aura of death.

To the right of the youth were a couple who appeared to be in their prime, around 29-30 years old. Held tightly in between them was a young boy, seemingly seven years old, with a face covered in snot and tears as he held tightly to his parents.

'To think, those people are actually causing such a scene in front of a child! Do they not understand the pain that they cause? That they might scar an innocent child for life because of their selfishness?' Angered by the robbers who were shouting and armed with guns, the youth's blood slowly boiled, as he gradually lost sense of the fear that had tried to root itself into him.

Just like anyone else, the youth feared death. His beliefs in life were centered around the idea of living a life of happiness whilst not hurting others. He knew pain, growing up without any parents, without any empathetic support, and his survival based on working heavy-labor jobs. Yet, he put up with everything, with the constant burden that shadowed his life. With each check he saved the extra bits of money, later purchasing a rather clumsy and used laptop to play some games, watch anime, and listen to music. After listening to music, he found a new way to vent the emotions he kept inside and purchased a cheap iPod and headphones. Every day, he lived a seclusive life in which he hid the emotions he burrowed deep inside of him.

Yet now, all the emotions he had tried to suppress for so long slowly started to awaken. The feeling of sorrow fueled his loneliness. The feeling of loneliness fueled his powerlessness. And the feeling of powerlessness fueled his wrath which slowly continued to grow.

"Hey! Banker! Give us all the money right now before we start taking lives!" A cynical-sounding man with a rather built-up muscle frame spoke, showing that he was clearly the leader of the other two.

"Boss, we better make this quick, I hear sirens off in the distance. We better start getting hostages ready and show everyone we're not playing around here!" the averagely built man spoke with slight emotions of panic.

"Uh-huh, most of the people here are middle-aged so there not of much use in our plan... Oh! Grab that kid over there, his parents too. That's the best way to deal with any authorities, they won't try anything funny with the lives of a family in our hands." A sharp glare pa.s.sing through his eyes as he looked over the hostages and had the man with the heavy physique grab the three selected hostages for their plan of negotiation.

"Boss, what about that dirty-looking youth, he'd be quite useful as bait. We can dress him up as one of us and use him later to further help us escape." The average-framed man laughed as he thought of the pitiful youth who entered the bank at the worse possible time.

'd.a.m.n, did I ever offend you? I entered at the worst possible time, have no use as a hostage with my appearance, but instead take place as being a "member" of their group! At least I'll be close to the kid, so I can help him nonetheless.' The youth grumbled as he could only agree and walk alongside the brawny man, still holding his check in his right hand, which was now crumpled and soaked in sweat with most words incomprehensible, had the youth looked at it he would realize it was probably void by this point.

The sound of the sirens slowly closed in on the bank for the three robbers. The people inside didn't hear the sirens however. Instead of feeling relief from the premise of being saved, they were accompanied by a sound worse than silence in their fear of death as their anxiety caused their ears to be filled with a ringing noise which m.u.f.fled and made all other sound incomprehensible. Those still in the line clutched the wall to hold themselves up after losing the support of their constantly shaking legs, while others looked down and hid their trembling hands.

The youth, finding no sense of comfort from their reactions, looked in front of him. More specifically, he looked at the young child. 'I'm definitely not the most n.o.ble person, but if worst comes to worst, I'll do everything in my power so this child doesn't experience the same fate as me. I won't let him live a life of solitude as an orphan, I'll make sure of that!'

"Plans changed, we can't be pa.s.sive with the hostages now! I thought we'd have a bit more time, but the authorities showed up too quickly." Trying to hide his frustration, the leader spoke with gritted teeth and veins popping on his neck, painting a horrific image that would send chills down the spines of all who saw.

"Un-understood boss, we-we'll handle it." The man with the average build stuttered, clearly frightened by his boss's current condition.

Watching the scene, the brawny man who held the family of three and the youth shook in fear, painting a contrasting situation for anyone who saw what was going on. A flash of resolve pa.s.sed through the brawny man's eyes as he finally spoke for the first time since they were robbing the bank, "Boss... I can't go on with this. I thought this would be a simple robbery, we'd get the money and leave. But now... it seems like people will get hurt... I can't continue with this...."

*Bang* *bang* *bang*

Three gunshots followed his words, resulting in the brawny man collapsing, eyes wide-open, flas.h.i.+ng with disbelief and sorrow as he looked towards his boss who, in his hands, held a small pistol.

The couple quickly covered the child's eyes, while the youth watched from beside them. His mouth agape, stunned at the sudden change of events. His emotions were complex, he had already planned on doing everything he could to protect the child and couple should the event come down to it. But never did he expect that one of the robbers would try to intervene and calm the leading robber down. 'How should I feel? I don't feel any hatred towards that man, I feel pity for such a person to be betrayed. And, from the beginning he took a quiet stance, as if he didn't want to take part in the crime and put everyone in danger.'

"Boss! What the h.e.l.l! We both know he was right, the three of us never planned on harming anyone when we came up with our plan. We've been following you for so long, yet you actually shot him just like that?" The average-built man spoke in fury with tears flowing down his face, clearly not expecting today's events to turn out like they had.

"So what, I've ran into a dead end. The authorities are already here, what use are any of the hostages?" Ending with that, the man pointed his pistol at the couple.

With a quick glance at the child and couple in front of the gun, the youth finally made up his mind, "You b.a.s.t.a.r.d! You've already gone too far!" Running at the man with the gun, the youth dove, tackling the man, but at the same time.

*Bang* *Bang* *Bang*

Three shots fired off, one hitting the youth's chest, more specifically, the pulmonary artery. The other shot hit the ground, barely missing the child and couple. The last shot was from the averagely-built man who shot his boss in the right arm which held the pistol. With those shots, the authorities outside no longer had the option to try and negotiate with the criminals as their first step, as they went into their secondary plan of rus.h.i.+ng the building.

Ignoring the incoming authorities who rushed in to save the hostages, the youth lay on the ground. 'In the end, I managed to protect the kid, huh? Looks like I did something useful in my 18 years of life for once.' His vision slowly blurred as he took one last glance at the child and couple who stared at him in pained expressions as they approached him and knelt down, crying. 'Well, this is the most emotion anyone has ever offered me up until today, huh? At the very least, I have people who will accompany me until my death, even if only for these last moments, I won't be alone. The only regret I have is that I didn't find such companions.h.i.+p in life.' It was only at the end that the youth's palm opened, releasing his check with only the spot for the name still legible, reading: Rentaro Eccel.