[Ch. 8] The Best Motivator

Ryu continued his days working both at the prison and at the brothel. During the day, he would work at the prison, bringing Panzram snacks and treats while also trying to keep his distance and give him space. At the brothel, Ryu would make use of his double and force it to work while he slept upstairs. The double behaved exactly like him and worked as the bodyguard keeping the working girls safe.

No one even knew it wasn't the real him.

Even though the double was an illusion, it could manipulate real life. The double could grab real objects as if it was a real person, but it was still in fact a dummy controlled by Ryu. Ryu could control the dummy from anywhere in the world and he didn't even need to be conscious to do so.

Ryu was really proud of his work. After all, no one was as skilled as he was when it came to illusions. He could even do it in his sleep which no one had ever been able to do before. Since Ryu had never showed off his full power and no one else knew the extent to his capabilities, everyone believed that this feat was impossible.

This only helped Ryu get away with even more.

Ryu skipped happily down the corridors in the prison to the changing room. He had been there several weeks and now even had his own uniform that actually fit him. All the guards were surprised to see that he was still around. Usually the fourth young master of the Taira family would be interested in one thing but get bored of it quickly and abandon it.

Of course there were exceptions to this; such as his Biwa, his beloved poetry, and his job at the brothel. However, many believed he only kept those three things because he was shamelessly carefree and a womanizer.

In reality, Ryu genuinely enjoyed music and literature. He only stayed at the brothel because it was a good job that provided food and a roof over his head. He was too lazy to clean and cook for himself, so he enjoyed being pampered by the old Madame that ran the house.

As he started changing, he heard a conversation in the opposite end of the room.

"Prisoner 34602 acted up, so we had to put him in the place. Can you believe it that it actually took over three guys to subdue that monster? Poor Tsunya was so beat up, he was sent home to recuperate."

"And the Grim Reaper?"

The other man gave a nasty laugh, "He probably won't be able to move for several weeks."

Ryu's face darkened. He thought that he could protect Panzram from this kind of violence by being a guard, but he couldn't be there the entire time. He could use his Tamashii energy to trick the guards, but Panzram hated being around Tamashii energy. Ryu didn't want to risk making Panzram angrier at him even if it was in Panzram's best interest.

Furthermore, using his illusions may do more harm than good…

But why did they attack Panzram? Didn't the vision say that this prison was the best to him in terms of how he was treated?

Well… Ryu supposed that this was still the best prison in Panzram's case. Panzram didn't get spoiled meals and he wasn't tortured. There were a few fights, but that was nothing to Panzram. Fighting with guards and other prisoners was all too common to Panzram.

Somehow, this fact filled Ryu's heart with even more sorrow. He gave a deep sigh, then hurried to get dressed so he could go see Panzram and assess the damage.

As Ryu walked, he patted his sleeve to ensure the mochi ball was still there. Sure enough, it was. Ryu had no idea if Panzram liked sweet mochi. Mochi was a chewy, gelatinous ball that children adored, but it was a bit strange for adults to enjoy as it was seen as childish.

Ryu tried to picture what Panzram would look like eating it. He couldn't picture the large, muscular man looking childish, but maybe Panzram would at least smile? Panzram had still yet to smile at him, but maybe this would be the thing that make it happen.

Maybe Panzram would even start to trust him…

Ryu giggled at this unrealistic thought. He really hoped that Panzram would open his heart up to him soon.

Ryu served lunch to the inmates one by one. The inmates hugged the furthest wall when he came in. They all knew better than to mess with this guard after the lesson they had been taught. When Ryu made it to Panzram's room, he slid the food tray over, being careful not to get too close.

Usually Panzram would be sitting on his bed giving Ryu the death glare, however, today he laid down on the bed facing the wall while he hugged his own broken body. He was more or less used to pain, but he still didn't like it. He could maintain the permanent scowl on his face without showing any agonizing pain, but he still felt it.

Ryu's heart ached when he saw him like that. Ryu could only half heartily put the mochi down on the plate. "I brought you mochi today. Do you like mochi? This one is strawberry flavored. You like strawberries, right?" He spoke in his cheerful voice as if he was trying to cheer up Panzram.

Like always, Ryu didn't receive a response. Panzram didn't intend to eat the food even after Ryu left his cell.

He didn't think he could since his jaw ached too much to even attempt to chew.

Without getting a response, Ryu left him behind to lay on his bed. However, Ryu didn't intend to let Panzram hurt for very much longer.

Seeing Panzram hurt, Ryu decided to use his chaos energy. However, he was worried he would anger Panzram so he did it in a stealthy manner.

Ryu created a double and rushed off casting an illusion of invisibility on himself. He didn't have to worry about leaving the double behind. None of the inmates would dare do anything while Ryu was on guard duty and his double was so real it could fool even a ghost.

Fear really was the best good motivator.