In the morning during Caesar's work in the Balland and Barnes Bakery, despite the scent of fresh bread wafts through the busy bakery and the workers hustle behind the counter, prepping the trays and ovens, Caesar's mind raced to her conversation earlier with her brothers.
"We figured you'd be tired, so we took care of the dishes. Your breakfast's ready—go eat while it's still hot." Rai's voice replayed in her head.
"Oh! And we heated up some water for your bath. You'll need it before work, right?" Eyo's voice replayed.
"We're here for you, just like you're here for us." Rai's voice replayed again.
"They don't know." Caesar said within after the remembrance, "They don't know how I almost got them sold, all because I couldn't compose myself."
"The Mizukais... Akari..." Caesar said within as she tilted her head down.
Caesar recalled the image of Akari's face and grin.
"I knew what kind of monster she is. I knew she isn't right in the head and I knew the level of power she held, yet I still looked at her like that, forgetting that my life and most importantly the lives of my brothers are in her and her family's hands." Caesar said within, "The first time they almost sold Eyo, it was because of my inability to pay the debt I was forced into for two years; no matter how much rux coins and yon notes I gathered, it wasn't enough to pay the debt.
The first was just circumstances but the second... That was on me. Me and my foolishness, and that act almost had them taken away.
Rai is just twelve and Eyo is seven. I can't imagine how they would have felt... How scared they would have been on the auction floors. The horrors... And they almost happened because of me."
Caesar then sighed and spoke in her mind again.
"Way to go, Caesar." Caesar said within.
Caesar stared down at her perfectly healed hands for a moment and continued speaking in her mind.
"When I first heard EBW has one of the best medical centers in Neo-earth due to their sponsors and the Mizukais backings, making them capable of fixing injuries can in days. I thought they were just talk.
Looks like it wasn't bulls, after all."
Caesar had a recollection earlier of herself staring at her perfectly healed face in the mirror while in disbelief.
'My body saw hell yesterday but now it is perfectly fine. I don't even feel an ounce of pain from my yesterday's match.'
After the recollection, Caesar continued working on the dough while speaking in her mind.
"So many sponsors, best tech and medical facilities. All that money and they use it for degeneracy when they could have used it for something meaningful, but no... They needed a form of sick entertainment just to get off from.
I can imagine the list of things they could be doing right now with the resources they have."
Caesar's eyes drifted towards her coworkers and saw them exchanging uneasy glances at each other and whispering to one another. They then glanced at Caesar and turned their faces away which made Caesar narrow her eyes before resuming her work.
"Since I got here, they have all been giving me that strange look... Even the customers as well." Caesar said within, " Did I do something wrong? Cause clearly there is nothing written on me."
As Caesar was still working on her dough, a fair skinned man who was accompanied by a timid fair skinned short man approached her.
The taller man stood beside Caesar and smirked.
"So, I saw your match yesterday. You're the newcomer EBW annouced on their website, huh." The man said to Caesar as he crossed his arms.
Caesar however paid no attention to him and continued her task.
"Ruz... I.. I don't think we should be doing this right now." The short man said to the taller man.
"To be honest , I didn't think you were that kind of girl. You know... The type to love ero-wrestling." Ruz continued speaking as he ignored the shorter man, "Plus being backed by the Mizukais... Man, that must be crazy.
Yeah, the crowd was brutal but in the end, you still got your bag, right?"
Caesar still paid no heed to Ruz but her pacing in her work slightly increased.
"Ruz, stop! You can see she is clearly agitated!" The short man said to Ruz.
"I got to say, I was kinda disappointed that I didn't see you or Cardinal perform any ero on each other but man, that was one hell of a squash match." Ruz continued, "Though I'm curious... Since you didn't go through tough enough, how are you going to cope in your future matches?"
" Or perhaps the Mizukais gave you some 'special' training?" Ruz said as his smirk increased.
"Ruz!" The short man called.
"I'm just saying. I mean, it would make sense, right? I can already feel my meat rising just from having this conversation." Ruz said, "Can you be a dear and treat this like it is an EBW ring... You know... And suck it? Or better still, let me in between your legs?"
"RUZ!" The short man called as his tone rose higher.
Caesar's hands shook tremendously but she took a deep breath and spoke.
"I'm gonna ask you to step away. Right now, you are making me uncomfortable."
"Besides, this is not the kind of conversations you have in public places." Caesar said as she finally gazed at Ruz, "If you really want those things done, then go get a girlfriend... or a whore..."
"Creep." Caesar said as she narrowed her eyes.
"Oooh. Feisty." Ruz said.
Ruz then chuckled and grinned.
"Come on. Who are you fooling?" Ruz asked as his right eye narrowed while arrogantly smirking, "Not the kind of conversation to have in public places? You're an ero-wrestler, woman. This kind of conversation should be normal to you. Way normal."
"After all, it is part of the job." Ruz continued as he darted his hand towards Caesar's backside and squeezed it.
In a swift motion, Caesar snatched a metal tray with one hand and swung it across Ruz's face, which sent him sprawling on the ground and caused the bakery to go still.
"HOLY...!" The short man said as he was caught off guard.
Caesar hastily mounted on top of Ruz and started slamming the tray repeatedly on his face.
"WHERE THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU ARE TOUCHING? YOU STUPID-WASTE OF-OXYGEN!" Caesar said while she was slamming the tray on Ruz's face.
Caesar slammed the tray to the point it was no longer usable and swiftly switched to her fist.
"YOU WANNA TALK SHIT?! YOU WANNA GROPE AND FEEL GOOD?! I'LL HELP YOU FEEL GOOD RIGHT HERE AND NOW!!" Caesar said while smashing her fists against the face of Ruz.
Blood began to spill out of Ruz's face during Caesar's assault, causing him to gurgle.
"Get her off him! She's gonna kill him!" A male beast folk coworker said.
Several others coworkers rushed in and dragged Caesar off.
"Caesar, calm down!"
"You're going to kill the man!"
"FUCKING-FATHERLESS-SHIT!" Caesar said to Ruz as she managed to stamp her foot on his face despite her being dragged off.
In the middle of the madness, the boss of the bakery Balland walked in and caught sight of several workers restraining Caesar.
"What the hell is going on here?!" Balland asked a quivering female worker.
"Caesar snapped and went crazy on Ruz!" The female worker replied.
Balland quickly walked towards Caesar and stood in front of her.
"Caesar-Caesar! Look at me. Calm down... Calm down." Balland said to Caesar as he raised a calming hand.
Caesar started catching her breath slowly and Balland seeing the progress, spoke.
"Good. Very good. That's right... Breathe."
Caesar exhaled deeply and Balland slowly brought down his hand.
Balland stared at Caesar for a while before his eyes shifted to the blood dripping from her knuckles. He then glanced at his workers and the unconscious Ruz and sighed.
"Get him some medical." Balland said to his workers.
"Caesar, come outside with me." Balland said to Caesar.
"The rest of you... Get back to work." Balland said to his workers again as he glanced at them.
Balland walked past his workers and Caesar followed him.
Minutes later as they stood outside, Balland crossed his arms and stared at Caesar while Caesar turned her face away as her arms were crossed behind her back.
"Do you mind explaining to me what happened back there?" Balland asked.
Caesar stayed mute for a time before speaking.
"He... He assaulted me."
"Assaulted you?" Balland asked.
"Yes... And... I was defending myself." Caesar answered.
"Nonsense." Balland replied, "That didn't like defense. That looked like an attempted murder."
Caesar stayed quiet while Balland's eyes narrowed.
"What you did back there... If you weren't stopped, we would have a dead body in the bakery and you would be dealing with a murder case, and not only that, everyone else would have gotten involved 'especiallyme'." Balland said.
Balland then sighed and continued.
"I know Ruz can be unpleasant. I know how I had to step in and put him in order. You had every right to defend yourself but what you did back there... It was excessive... Very excessive.
For you to snap like that..."
Balland paused for a while.
"Does this have to do with EBW?" Balland asked.
"So you know?" Caesar asked as she finally shifted her sight towards Balland.
"One of the workers accidentally put the wrong channel and we caught glimpse of your match yesterday." Balland replied.
"That explains the strange look I have been getting from everyone today." Caesar said as she turned her face away again.
Caesar then let out a bitter chuckle.
"It seems I'm on everyone's judgement book." Caesar said.
"I'm not judging you. It's just... It was shocking seeing you in that kind of place." Balland said, "You're not that type of woman. For you to be there, it means you were either terribly desperate or something... Or someone forced you."
Silence stayed in the atmosphere for a moment until Balland spoke again.
"Was it the Mizukais? Were they the ones who forced you into that company?"
Caesar's body slightly shook and her fingers behind her back trembled.
"Caesar..." Balland softly called.
Caesar's lips partly trembled until she let out a sigh.
"Yes. Yes, it was them." Caesar answered, "They forced me into the company."
Caesar turned her gaze back at Balland.
"Two years ago, I learnt my parents borrowed five million yon from the Mizukais and died without paying a dime." Caesar said, "I was forced by that family to take my parents place and pay what they owed."
"Five million? Where is she supposed to get that kind of money from?" Balland asked within in shock.
"For two years I have been struggling to pay for their actions." Caesar continued, "Two years and barely any progress. No matter the rux coins or yon notes I gathered, it barely covered anything... Even with the amount of jobs taken.
The day before yesterday, the Mizukais grew impatient and Raizan tried to sell my youngest brother Eyo just to recover some of the money... But Akari gave me an offer: either I join EBW or Eyo gets sold. I had no choice.
So now, I'm trading my dignity for my brothers safety and to pay a debt I have nothing to do with... While dealing with the judgement of everyone including that filthy circus."
"Caesar..." Balland said softly, "I... I'm so sorry."
"Don't be. It's my life now. I just gotta live through it." Caesar said, "I made a huge risk telling you this. Please do not go telling anyone else. My brothers lives... The Mizukais... I've seen what they can do. I know what they are capable of and the kind of power they hold.
Please. For my brothers sake."
"Damn that family." Balland said, "This reminds me of me and my friend's encounter with them, and I must say, that family are full of monsters but the two that stand out the most are Raizan and Akari.
Akari... She's not right in the head. But Raizan... That man is different.
There is a reason he is called 'thesilentreddevil'."
"I was able to survive the Mizukais but my friend... They broke him." Balland continued as he tilted his head down.
"What did they do to him?" Caesar asked.
"Just like you, they forced him into EBW because of the debt." Balland answered, "They made him go through all the processes of the company just to see how he would fare.
Kaezan was his name... Kaezan Aris."
"Forced into EBW? So I'm not the first?" Caesar asked within.
"It was too much for him. The beatings ... Being groped. Having those things done to him by strangers in front of people and cameras." Balland said, "I tried to reach out to him but he didn't want my help. He was so angry and ... Frightened.
Now he is in a mental hospital, saying 'don'tsuckmydick'."
Hearing this, Caesar's eyes slightly widened.
"Is this... What I will become in future? Broken like him?" Caesar asked in her heart.
Caesar subtly clenched her fists while her hand shook.
"Once again, I am so sorry for what you are going through." Balland said to Caesar as he raised his head.
"And once again, don't be." Caesar replied, "As I said before, this is my life now... There is nothing that can be done."
"No. There is." Balland said, "I told you that I survived the Mizukais, right? Though I wasn't thrust into ero-wrestling like you two but I can give you the tools to survive."
"How?" Caesar asked.
"I know a guy... He is a friend and he owes me a favor." Balland answered, "He is an ero-wrestler from EBW-"
"Forget it." Caesar cuts in, "I'm not going to get involved with another one of those perverts."
"You already are." Balland replied, "Whether you like it or not, you are already involved with them. You are an ero-wrestler, and that's the reality."
Caesar slightly scowled at Balland in hearing those words.
"I know this company makes you sick to the belly but right now you don't have a choice." Balland continued, "Please, don't turn this down. You're a good employee. I cannot afford to lose someone I know again to the same system when I had the chance to help."
"Tch!" Caesar said as she turned her face away.
Silence stayed for a time until Balland sighed.
"I'll give you some time to think about this." Balland said.
Balland then walked past Caesar and halted.
"But remember who you are trying to protect. If you want to shield them from the horrors that is at the corner, then please accept the offer." Balland said, "Call me when you have made up your mind."
Balland walked away, leaving Caesar to stare down at the ground.