Crown 24

Gatekeeper: —It’s just like that movie. Apparently they’ve been callin’ the Boss the same name lately.^[1]

It’s about the corruption of a pure and innocent man as he’s stained by vice. It’s a story about the grudges, sins, and legacies we inherit from all the ones before us.

Seiya: What are you saying to me?

Gatekeeper: I’m sayin’ I’m lookin’ forward to what’s next, Hidaka.

When ES was established, it eroded away the existing entertainment industry and forced its assimilation.

The guy who had vested interests in controllin’ that old world of entertainment from the shadows was the Priest, who inherited his legacy from the Boss.

Seiya: I thought it was you who inherited his legacy?

Gatekeeper: All I got was assets like money and land. But all his connections and the deep-seated, intertwined fates that spread across the entertainment industry were inherited by the Priest.

I knew all about it, but I just let it happen. I couldn’t care less what happens to the entertainment or the idol industries.

Seiya: You really don’t have any interest in idols, do you?

Gatekeeper: That’s what I’ve been sayin’.

I dunno how many times I told the Boss to stop plain’ around with his little toy idols and go after somethin’ bigger.

But he never listened to me. Never listens to a damn thing anyone says, that guy.

Seiya: Idols are all basically like that, aren’t they?

Gatekeeper: Tell me about it. Well, I hate every last one of youse. Wish you’d just die off already, or at least go somewhere that I’ll never have to see youse again.

Seiya: The feeling is mutual. I’d be grateful if the mafia stayed out of our business.

Gatekeeper: Yeah, whatever. This whole thing was an accident, and an unfortunate one at that. Two worlds that never should have crossed ended up collidin’ because of the strings of fate left by the Boss.

Gatekeeper: —The Boss had three confidants.

They were the Watchdog, the Priest, and the Apostle. ‘Course, out of those three he only cared for the Apostle. He was the only one the Boss loved.

And the Apostle ended up his rightful successor.

The Boss was pretty devoted to ‘im. He called him his Apostle, showered him in affection, desperately tried to mold him into his successor.

Told ‘im that he was the only one who could inherit everything he was.

Now that didn’t sit too well with me or the Priest; we were just as devoted to him, y’see. We’d got jealous, wonderin’ why the Apostle got that special attention.

I hated that guy so much I coulda killed ‘im.

But I resigned myself isntead. A scumbag like me couldn’t never become an idol. At least, not the kinda idol the Boss idealized.

And not one like the Apostle.

So it’s just a matter of course he didn’t love me. I accepted it and gave up.

I didn’t have no interest in forcin’ myself to be an idol. The Boss never woulda taken interest in a half-baked, phony idol, anyway.

He’d never love me.

So I didn’t bother tryin’ to be an idol he’d love. I just did everythin’ I could for ‘im.

I was useful to him. I did everythin’ for the Boss, because I loved him.

He was the only blood relative I had, the only family in the whole word I could trust. He was all that I had.

Seiya: Oh, so you two really were related by blood?

Gatekeeper: What else would we be? Ya know that brat Ibara calls me his great uncle, don’tcha?

The Boss’s history is pretty fishy, though.

His family registry got fucked up durin’ the war, an’ on top of that he tampered with his records on his own, too.^[2]

I can’t even be sure the name I know the Boss by is his real name. So I dunno if he an’ me are actually blood related.

But I clung to it anyways. It was an anchor for my soul, and the faith I needed to stay sane in this mad world.

Seiya: I understand what you mean a bit! I would destroy the entire world for my beloved wife, too!

Gatekeeper: You’re already well past crazy. Christ, this whole place is fulla people with screws loose in their heads.

Anyways, I accepted my lot and became a martyr to my duty, but the Priest was different.

He acted as the Boss’s body double from time to time. I dunno where he came from, but my guess is he was some orphan who happened to look a lot like the Boss to begin with.

You’ve heard it before: there’s three people in the world who look exactly like ya. The Boss found one of ‘em, took ‘im in, an’ raised him up.

The Boss had scores of enemies, y’see. His life was always under threat. So this was a precaution. The Priest was a body double in the truest sense.

But even a body double has feelings, obviously. He’s human. Pain in the ass.

The Boss stood at the top of the industry; he had it made. And because the Priest was always takin’ his place, he got real cozy standin’ up there. From there he got dependent on it, an’ then obsessed with it.

He got terrified of losin’ that place in the sun.

And then without even a hint of sympathy for his body double’s feelings, the Boss went an’ picked out a different successor.

He was like a little kid in a candy store, tryin’ to bring ‘im into his inner circle.

Seiya: ...And that was Akehoshi-kun.

Gatekeeper: Ya got it. The legendary super idol we call “that Akehoshi” was also the Apostle—the Boss’s true successor.

Seiya: Akehoshi-kun hated being called such a ridiculous name, though, didn’t he?

Gatekeeper: Yep. The Apostle basically kept his distance from us.

He was a pure soul, an average guy who just wanted to sing and dance to make everybody smile, and then go home to his loving family.

Maybe that’s why the Boss loved him so much.

He never hurt anybody, never stepped over anybody to get where he did, and he still ended up neck an’ neck with the Boss—he was like the sun, that guy.