章 2: The Debt Collectors

Hajime knew he couldn't outrun all of them, nor could he fend them off since there were three against one. Instead, he opted to climb the adjacent house over and do some house-hopping in the meantime.

It was still early in the morning anyway, and Hajime could tell that the people in their neighborhood were still asleep. That's why he didn't think twice about climbing their roofs and running on top of them. He just hoped that no one would suspect him as a cat-burglar or something of the sort.

After running toward the fence of his neighbor, Hajime cleared it by doing a vault and landing on the neighbor's lawn. He lurched forward due to the momentum but he soon picked himself up, accelerated, and jumped upward, grabbing the edge of the roof and prompting himself upon it so he could commence his escape.

Whack!

An object hit him squarely on the jaws, something cold and hard. He could've sworn one of his teeth was cracked but it was just the pain shooting up his brain. His gums started bleeding though, but he paid it no mind. 'What was that?' He questioned in utter confusion.

By the time he got back to his senses, the debt collectors were already upon him. They didn't have any difficulty clearing the fence where Hajime jumped over a few seconds ago.

That's when Hajime realized what hit him. A few feet from where he fell was one of the red high heels that the lady wore. Before he could pick himself back up, though, another object hit him squarely on the diaphragm, causing him to wheeze in pain. Disoriented, he staggered backward, but the man wearing the tuxedo finally caught up to him, brusquely squeezing him by the shoulders and pulling him up. He then locked his arms behind Hajime. "I got the little brat." He announced while trying to catch his breath, much to the other debt collectors' relief. "You're quite the coward, huh. It's impressive how you've gotten better at escaping though. There's still no chance you can escape though."

The third muscular man wore a smile on his face while crossing his arms. He then swiveled his head towards the lady wearing her flashy dress. "Nice throw, Shelly-san. We finally caught the dirty little bastard" Hajime found his accent a bit weird since he didn't grow up living in Japan.

"Hah~ how was that? Now, where's the money? I hope you'll pay us right now or it won't end well with you." Shelly twirled her thumb as she softly threatened Hajime. Her voice didn't come out as strong though. Hajime guessed she still harbor pity towards him despite their desperation of extorting money from him.

"Three things," Hajime pointed out, staring at the muscular man with the weird foreign accent. "First of all, I'm not dirty and in terms of physical appearance, I'm not little. I am a bastard by definition though. Second, I owe you nothing. My parents were the ones who borrowed money from you, not me. You can't ask me to pay all that since I didn't personally borrow money from you. Third, why don't you collect your debts from their graves, huh? You'll have a better chance at getting your money from them."

And that's when Hajime received a full-on slap on the face from none other than the muscular man himself. He was livid, to say the least, and veins started appearing on his temples as he growled like a rabid dog. It was obvious he was burning with anger. Honestly, his expression frightened Hajime a little bit. Just a little bit.

"Well kid, let me explain. The money that your parents owe us falls on you since you're their son. If you can't understand that, then you're dumb." The muscular man continued after giving Hajime his just desserts in the form of a face slap.

"Were you drunk when you read the law? Whatever it is that you were drinking, it must've been good." Hajime curtly responded while wearing a condescending smirk on his face.

The man was quite annoyed by now. Turning around and letting his anger get the better of him, he prepared to hit Hajime, this time on the face.

However, Hajime already expected this to happen. With a quick bow, the blow aimed at his head missed him by a hair's breadth, and instead, it landed on the man wearing the tuxedo who pinned him down. The man holding Hajime back was thrown off because of the punch, and his grip loosened.

Seizing his chance, Hajime quickly hopped off the fence and ran through the streets. 'Phew, good thing I didn't lose my composure back there.' He complimented himself while shortly glancing behind him. There were no signs of the debt collectors resuming their pursuit.

"They'll be back tomorrow... sigh, hopefully not."

As much as Hajime hated to admit it, he knew that there was nothing he could do about the group of loan sharks harassing him. After all, money's on their side and well, it's not on his. Second, compared to him, the group has more connections so reporting them to the police would just be a waste of time. And last but not the least, he was undoubtedly poor. And one can't do anything when they're poor.

This was how Hajime had been surviving for the past year. And although his current life was far from the norm, he was used to it. That's all there is to it.

.....

Due to the redevelopment in the area, much of the neighborhood's properties started skyrocketing in terms of price and many building constructions started taking place. While many complained since some were basically being forced to sell their property, the overall redevelopment was well received since it would greatly boost the land's value.

As such, construction sites became common and workers had been in demand lately.

A certain construction site could easily be noticed due to how huge the building was being constructed. This construction site had an estimated area of two hundred fifty-thousand square feet. The land's owner thought it right to build an apartment complex on this land since the redevelopment is bound to attract more people soon. After receiving the blueprints from his hired architects, he finally assigned a certain construction company to work on the project. Little by little, his dream started turning into reality. Currently, the complex was about twenty-five percent complete.

Meanwhile, a familiar young man entered the premises, grabbing a hard hat by the entrance and greeting the others who were clocking in for the day. "Good morning," Hajime repeatedly said.

Hajime arrived a little earlier than usual but instead of taking some time to relax, he proceeded to work straight away. More work time means more wages after all and right now, he needed all the money he could get. 'Of course, even bastards like us understand these things. It's just a simple rule in any line of work. I can even say that it's a law.' He said to himself, ducking just in time as a man carrying some beams passed by.

"Good morning there, mate! Seems like you've decided to work earlier than usual, huh."

"No, I just came here without knowing the time so I decided to work earlier rather than just waiting for my usual time-in. And as they said, more labor means more wages, right?"

"You got that right!"

After removing his jacket, Hajime approached one of the half-built apartments where the lockers for construction workers are located. This place serves as the resting place/ the cafeteria for construction workers during their breaks. Following that, Hajime proceeded to his station and started bending some steel using plastic pipes set aside for that specific task. These bent steel frames would later be used for the pillars of the apartment complex. A couple of buckets of cement poured over them after they've been set up would finish the job.

With beads of sweat flowing all over his face, Hajime picked up the pace. Their employer is very particular with workers who slack on their job. Besides, there are a lot of things to be done. As soon as Hajime's task is finished, he planned to help the others so the construction would flow more seamlessly and much faster than normal. 'This is all for the money! This is all for the money! Tomorrow's my payday so I need to work as hard as I can' Hajime reminded himself multiple times.

At one point, Hajime looked up to wipe some sweat trickling from his forehead and that's when he noticed their employer walking toward him. He gulped, then looked down and increased his pace even more. 'He's looking! He's looking! He's coming over here.' It was an understatement to say that Hajime was slightly panicked when their gazes met.

"Working hard as always, huh, Sasajima Hajime." He complimented as soon as he was within Hajime's arms reach. "You've proven yourself to be a hard-working employee as soon as you started working here. Your work ethics are enough to cover for two employees at once, that's why you're the only one assigned in your station."

"T-thank you, sir!" Hajime stiffly responded. "It is a real pleasure working here on your site and I'll do my best to work more efficiently, sir!"

"Don't force yourself, Hajime. You're quite a diligent young man. Here, take this." He said, handing him an envelope. "It's a little bonus before your pay-day tomorrow. Just keep it to yourself, okay?" He whispered while checking the surroundings. Apparently, no one saw what he handed Hajime.

"T-thank you very much, sir." Hajime beamed, gratefully accepting the envelope. "I'll work harder from now on," He promised.

"Good job as always, young man. I could tell that one day, you'll be really successful. Just keep working harder and you'll be able to succeed." After patting Hajime on the back, their employer then turned around and headed back.

'Phew, that was so nerve-wracking!' Hajime inwardly said, heaving a sigh of relief. Their employer was a kind man— he never fails to give bonuses to his employees from time to time. Sure, he's more strict compared to Hajime's previous employers, but he's strict in a good way. For a moment back there though, Hajime thought that he was about to get fired since their employer walked toward him without warning. He was literally shaking in his boots at the mere thought of getting fired from the spot. Fortunately, such wasn't the case and he even received a bonus to boot.

'All's well that ends well. Besides I got a bonus.'