Kings On The Horizon (Vol. 1-3) ✓

03 | Who Holds the Power?

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MARCUS FOLLOWS BEHIND MAX as fast as he can. He's calling out for him but Max isn't responding, and it's not because he couldn't hear him, but because Max didn't want to talk or even look at his brother. After Max's encounter with Ren Adachi, Max has only now realized the small hints that he's been receiving since yesterday. Janus and Marcus were so secretive, and it was all because of the brotherhoods.

      For ordinary people, brotherhoods don't hold any special meaning. But a brotherhood is an organization inspired by the concept of fraternities. It is a traditional practice done by elite criminals to keep their social status alive even inside prison. In short, imagine a fraternity, but instead of having it in a university, it's practiced by rich adults who are locked in prison, so it's not an organization meant for universities at all. But to actually follow such a system in a high school? Has their uncle gone mad?

     "Max."

     "Leave me alone."

     "Please, I can explain."

     Max stops walking and turns around to look at his brother who also made a sudden halt. "You're good Mr. Thompson; you and our uncle. You're both the same." Max tells him with a half-hearted smile. Marcus wanted to say something to at least defend himself, but words just wouldn't come out of his mouth. Max found it funny how he didn't even try to at least say anything, even if it was a stupid excuse.

     "Has it ever crossed your mind to even tell me for god's sake?!" Max now asks with a louder tone.

     Marcus aggressively scratches the back of his head and finally opens his mouth, "I wanted to tell you okay? But uncle told me not to. He knew that you'd react like this."

     Max couldn't believe what he just heard. He almost wanted to punch him because of complete anger. "React like what? Like a normal person? Do you even know what brotherhoods are? Marcus, I am a future chairman of one of the biggest corporations in the world. I have kept my name and our family name clean for as long as I could remember. What do you think the outcome would be if something happens to me here?" Max asks, his temper reaching its utmost limit.

     Marcus starts looking worried. He's searching for the right words to say next, trying his best to turn the situation around. "You don't have to worry about that. There are rules okay? Rules that keep the brotherhoods at bay. We cannot physically hurt the students. There's a certain—" Marcus instantly stops when he sees his brother's horrified reaction.

     "We. You said we," Max repeats, and Marcus curses under his breath upon realizing it himself. 

     Max forces out a laugh and brushes his hair back with his fingers. After everything that he already experienced today, this was finally the end of the line for him. Nothing he'd learn now would be more shocking than this. "Of course. The uniform and the brooch said it all. I'm an idiot." Max says, still trying to laugh it off because this all seems to be like a big joke now.

     Marcus knows that whatever he says now won't make Max feel any better. He knows that the smartest thing to do now is to accept his mistake and give Max the time to think.

     "You have always kept secrets from me. You've lied so much before that I thought you'd at least get tired of it, but I guess I was wrong." Max tells him, but this time, he isn't laughing anymore.

     "Max I—"

     "I've always wanted the truth from you. Apparently all this time, that hasn't been clear enough," Max says without breaking eye contact. Before he starts saying anything else that would end up hurting him and his brother, he decides to just walk away. And this time, Marcus doesn't follow him.