Disclaimer: I do not own "Hareluya II Boy" or any of its characters. This story is a work of fan fiction. No profit is being made from it.
Author's Note: This story was partially inspired by the game "Crime Fighters 2" AKA "Vendetta." One of the villains, Ohsugi, is borrowed from that game.
"Why does this always happen to me?" Ichijou muttered.
It had started off simply enough. He had been on his way to Live House Dali to meet his band-mates, Amamiya and Shiina, to practise and had made a stop in a grocery store to buy some drinks. As he was approaching the cash register he saw that the cashier, a skinny, timid-looking guy in glasses, had gotten into an argument with a punk in a studded leather jacket whose hair had been dyed neon green.
"You want me to pay for this ****?" the punk yelled, waving around an open packet of Umaibo. "You think this is worth 10 yen? Have you even tried this ****? Here try some!"
He grabbed the poor cashier and jammed a handful of Umaibo into his mouth, making him choke and gag. The punk had seized another handful when Ichijou yelled,
"Leave him alone!"
The punk released the cashier and turned around with an angry snarl on his face. Without a word he threw a punch but Ichijou easily blocked it and countered with an elbow to his gut. Not letting up, he slammed the goon's face into the counter three times. Stunned and dazed the goon was then dragged over to the door.
"Don't ever try anything like that again" Ichijou warned. He then shoved the punk through the door and glared after him as he stumbled away.
"Are you okay?" Ichijou asked the cashier.
"I'm fine" he replied. "Thanks for taking care of that guy."
"My pleasure."
He made it to Live House Dali without further incident. Once there he practically forgot about the incident at the grocery store as he played his guitar and lost himself in the familiar rhythm of the music.
After a rehearsal session he told the others to take a break. Wanting some fresh air he went outside.
That's better he thought as he looked up at the sky, taking a moment to admire the clouds. He recalled his fight with the punk and frowned. He wouldn't hesitate to put a stop to such behaviour but he didn't enjoy it either. All he wanted was to focus on his music.
Pity Hibino wasn't there. He would have liked taking down that punk. His frown became a smile at that thought. Speaking of Hibino, he and Yamana should be here soon.
"Hey you!"
He turned around and sighed as he saw the goon from the store. Standing next to him was a tall, tan-skinned, heavily built guy with close-cropped black hair and a thick uni-brow.
"My name's Baran" the big guy said with an unpleasant grin. "My underling tells me you jumped him."
"Your underling was harassing a cashier just for doing his job" Ichijou replied. "He needed to be taught a lesson."
"Maybe you need to be taught a lesson about what happens to anyone that messes with the Masuno High gang" said Baran.
"Try it" Ichijou said as he readied himself for battle. To his surprise neither Baran nor his underling did the same. They just stood where they were, still grinning.
Behind me…
The realisation came too late as a chain whirred through the air and wrapped itself around his throat. His hands flew up and tried to pull the chain away but someone rushed in behind him and seized his arms. With his air supply cut off, he began to choke and cough. A kick to the back of the knee sent him to the ground. He tried desperately to fight back as thugs surrounded him and began raining down blows. Finally a blackjack to the head knocked him out cold.
"Enough!" Baran yelled. His goons instantly ceased their attack.
"Bring him back to the construction site" he added. "We're going to have some fun with him."
The thugs laughed nastily. Two of them picked up the unconscious Ichijou and dragged him over to a nearby truck. None of them noticed a scared Amamiya watching from the doorway.
Unaware of what had happened Hibino Hareluya and Yamana Michiru were casually strolling down the streets, on their way to Live House Dali to meet up with Ichijou.
"Well lets get this over with" said Hibino as the building came into sight. "Another hour of having our ears tortured by his noise pollution."
Yamana chuckled. "Hibino if you hate Ichijou's music so much then why do you come to his rehearsals?"
He snorted. "Ore-sama needs to make sure his music is acceptable for the public."
"Ah, so you're helping him then."
"Am not" Hibino said indignantly. "Ichijou is my underling. It would make Ore-sama look bad if he didn't sell tickets."
"Of course" she replied with a knowing smile.
Just then a familiar voice called, "Hibino-san! Yamana-san!"
Amamiya rushed forwards and came to a halt in front of them. He looked scared.
"What's wrong Amamiya-san?" Yamana asked gently.
"Ichijou's in trouble" he replied. He quickly told them what had happened. Yamana's eyes widened in dismay as she listened while Hibino clenched his fist angrily.
"We'll teach them" he said firmly. "Where did they go?"
"I heard the boss say they were going to the construction site."
"Then that's where we're going" said Hibino. Yamana nodded.
"Be careful" said Amamiya as they hurried off.
Ichijou groaned faintly as he stirred and came to. What happened? I went outside for a moment and then…
As his wits started to clear it occurred to him that he was lying on a cold, hard surface. Then he remembered the gang members sneak-attacking him and knocking him out. His eyes snapped open and he tried to get up but found he couldn't move.
Fully conscious now, Ichijou realised that he was lying on the ground with his arms and legs extended in a spread-eagle position. His wrists and ankles had been firmly tied to four motorcycles. He tugged furiously at the ropes but they didn't give an inch.
Mocking laughter filled his ears. He looked around and saw that he was in the middle of a building site. All around him were scaffolding and construction equipment.
Looking down at him with a wicked grin was Baran. Next to him was a lean guy with black hair in a ponytail. He wore sunglasses, a black tank top and matching jeans. In his hand was a kusarigama, a weapon that consisted of a stick with a sickle blade on one end and a chain ending in an iron ball on the other. Behind them were over a dozen punks.
"Hey buddy, glad you're awake" said Baran. "This is Ohsugi, one of my top guys. You can thank him for bringing you down."
Ohsugi grinned and held up his weapon.
Ichijou glared up at them. "Let me up and we'll see how you fare in a real fight."
The gang leader's grin broadened. "I don't think so. You're gonna pay for messing with us."
He snapped his fingers and pointed at the bikes. Four of his goons stepped forwards and got on them. They took off the kickstands and started to rev the engines.
"Can you guess what happens next?" Baran asked
"OI! That's Ore-sama's underling!"
The engines fell silent and all of the goons turned to see Hibino standing a few yards away.
Baran sneered. "You're just one guy. What chance have you got against us all?"
"Let's find out."
"Get him!"
The thugs rushed to attack. The first one aimed an overhead swing at his head but he blocked it and landed a punch to the chest followed by another to his face. As he toppled over another one aimed a blow at Hibino's knee, but he spun away in time to evade it and responded by slamming his knee into his face, breaking his nose with a crunch! He then lifted the goon over his head and flung him at two more. All of them went down in a heap.
While the thugs were busy fighting Hibino none of them noticed Yamana peering out from behind a stack of rebar. She hurried over to Ichijou, knelt down and quickly untied him.
"Thank you" he said as she helped him up.
"Anytime" she replied with a smile.
Two punks sporting Mohawks looked back and saw what was happening. They approached, each one wielding a length of chain that they swung menacingly at their side.
Ichijou stepped in front of Yamana and faced the goons directly. Taking care to keep back they circled him for a moment and then swung their chains at him. He ducked under the first and barely managed to jump over the second.
As he landed one of the punks was about to throw his chain around Ichijou's neck to strangle him but before the punk could do so, Yamana slammed a bucket down over his head. The punk had no time to react as Ichijou elbowed him in the gut, doubling him over, and then finished him off with a chop to the back of his neck.
The other chain-wielder tried to attack but Ichijou easily ducked his attack while snatching up the dropped chain and looping it around his ankle. A quick tug sent him to the ground and a left cross finished him.
Ichijou nodded his thanks. "Good job."
"Same to you" she replied.
He ran to join the main brawl while she climbed up onto the next level of the scaffolding.
A thug jabbed a knife at Hibino but he casually dodged it and caught his wrist. A quick twist made him drop the knife and a head-butt took him out of the fight. Another punk swung a baseball bat at his head. Hibino caught it with one hand, stopping it dead.
The punk's jaw dropped. "How the **** did you?…"
Hibino drove the bat into his face, knocking him out, and then hefted the bat.
"Heh, not as good as Ore-sama's own bat but it's fun to beat these losers with one of their own weapons" he said. To demonstrate this he leaped forwards and took out three thugs in rapid succession with powerful swings that sent them flying.
Ichijou ran in and joined the fray, dropping two more goons with rapid kicks and punches. A third swung a bat at him. He dropped to the ground and took him down with a leg sweep.
"Pity you don't have your guitar Ichijou" Hibino called as he landed an uppercut to another goon's jaw. "Then you would finally have a good use for it as a club."
"Very funny" Ichijou replied.
Up on the first floor of scaffolding Yamana looked down at the brawl. She sighed in relief as she saw that Hibino and Ichijou were holding their own. Despite that they were still outnumbered.
Then she noticed a large bag of cement laying a few feet away. She picked it up and threw it down at a cluster of punks. The bag burst as it hit them, releasing a cloud of powdered cement. The punks war cries were immediately replaced by coughing and spluttering as they inhaled the dust. They stopped fighting and dropped their weapons to rub their eyes.
"Nice one!" Hibino exclaimed as he grinned up at her. She smiled back as he and Ichijou took out the powder-coated punks.
Soon all the goons were unconscious. All that remained now were Baran and Ohsugi.
Ohsugi raised his kusarigama and began whirling the chain over his head as Ichijou faced him. "I brought you down before and I'll bring you down now" he said.
"It won't be so easy now that my back isn't turned."
The chain whistled through the air. He jumped over a swing aimed at his ankles and then narrowly dodged the iron ball as it came hurtling directly towards his face.
"You can't beat me!" Ohsugi laughed. "You can't even get close!"
"We'll see about that."
As the chain came towards him again he snatched up a dropped bat and swung it around, intercepting the chain's arc and letting it wrap around the bat. Ohsugi's eyes bulged in dismay but before he could react Ichijou grabbed the chain and yanked hard. Ohsugi was caught off-balance and came stumbling towards him, right into an uppercut that launched him up into the air. He landed on his back, out cold.
Meanwhile Hibino and Baran were fighting unarmed, throwing punches, kicks, elbows and knees. For his size Baran was remarkably fleet-footed, striking with blow after blow, but Hibino met each attack and slowly but surely forced him to give ground. Finally Hibino landed a mighty punch that sent him reeling away. As he was about to press the attack Baran raised his hand, a terrified look on his face.
"I give up! I give up! You win!"
Hibino grinned and lowered his hands. Baran's scared look instantly became a fierce grin as he drew out a handful of pills which he crushed into powder. With a wild cry he threw the powder into Hibino's face…
Except that Hibino was no longer there. He had anticipated the attack and smoothly stepped out of the way. Not expecting this Baran was wide open for Hibino to land a haymaker to the jaw that spun him around a full circle before he slumped to the ground.
"Ha! Cheap tricks mean nothing to Ore-sama" said Hibino.
Yamana climbed down from the scaffolding and hurried over to Ichijou. "Are you okay?" she asked.
"I'm okay" he replied. "Thank you both for saving me."
She smiled. "You don't have to thank us."
"He most certainly does" said Hibino. "Still, it was fun. Ore-sama hasn't had a fight that good for awhile. Anyway let's get out of here."
A few days later Ichijou and his band-mates were again rehearsing. This time they were practising a new song he had written. The song was about two brave people, one male and one female, and how they had overcome great odds to save a friend.
Hibino and Yamana listened to them practising. When the song finished they both clapped.
"That was great!" Yamana said happily.
"I agree" said Hibino. "For once you actually wrote something superb Ichijou."
"Thanks. Maybe when you rule the world you can make it your theme song, huh Hibino?"
"Don't push your luck."