The sun was beginning to go down, and the first members of the night crowd were beginning to take to the streets of Midorijima, mixing in with the last stragglers of the day goers on their way back to their homes. The neon in a countless array of commercial signs began to glow, adding bright shades of red, green, and purple to the fading golden light. Clothing, grocery, servicing, and junk shops were closing, while the bars, arcades, dance houses, and cheap snack stores were only just coming to life. It'll be a different city by the time darkness hits. Right now, though, it is still caught in that tense period in between, where the day people rush on by, as though afraid that the night crowd will bite them, and the youth surfacing for the night are straining to behave themselves just long enough for the city to be theirs.
In the throng of people, one person in particular stood out. All the youth flooding the streets came in packs, with one other person at their side at the very least. But this man walked alone, an activity usually only practiced in the bright hours of the day. He was still young, seeming to be about 19 to 20 years of age. His dark hair was a bit long and straggly, but still well above his shoulders. He wore a strange jacket that stopped short of his shoulders, leaving them exposed except for the t-shirt that covered them. His pale green eyes were steady, staring straight ahead as if he couldn't see the people around him.
"Kohaku," a deep, disembodied voice whispered next to the man's ear. "You're being followed."
"It's a bit early in the evening for that," the man remarked, keeping his voice lowered as well. "Any allmates on them?"
"Yes," the voice replied. "Three. A lizard-type, dog-type, and-"
"It doesn't matter what kinds," Kohaku interrupted. "Do they have firewalls up?"
"Nothing I can't break through," the voice assured him.
"Good," Kohaku grinned. "Keep tabs on the allmates. I want to know where their owners go once I've lost them. Any indication on groups they're associated with?"
"Already done," the voice affirmed. "All online activities suggest they are members of the ribsteez team Outlast."
"Big surprise there," the man commented sarcastically.
"Should I contact Mizuki?" The voice asked.
"No," Kohaku responded. "He'd just try to rush down here and make a big scene. There's no point in confronting them and starting a fight until all other options are exhausted. Once I'm through here I'll visit Mizuki and let him know." There was silence for a moment. "What's the best route to take so I can shake them off?"
"Two blocks down," the voice instructed. "There's a side street. Turn right into the second alley and follow it until it dead ends. There's a service ladder that leads onto the roof. I would suggest hiding nearby it. They should assume you've gone to the roof and head up there. Then you can double back to Aoyagi street."
"On it," Kohaku replied. He continued down the street at the same relaxed pace, making sure not to glance behind him at his pursuers. Two blocks down he turned onto the side street, continuing to act at ease. There were still enough people here to ensure he wouldn't be attacked. As Kohaku approached the alley he sped up his pace a little. He had to keep enough distance between himself and his pursuers to reach the ladder safely.
The alley twisted around, weaving behind the buildings. He listened intently for the sound of footsteps speeding up behind him, but it remained quiet. Finally, he turned the corner into a wider area, enclosed by buildings on three sides. There was the ladder, directly across from him. Swiftly he ducked out of sight behind a dumpster on the adjacent wall and waited patiently. About a minute passed before he heard the heavy thud of footsteps enter the area. There was a hushed murmur of several voices before the clang of feet on the rusty metal rungs of the ladder. He waited another two minutes to make sure they'd gone before heading back up the alley.
He had just turned onto the side street when the deep voice spoke up again. "Kohaku," it began urgently. "They're trying to track me."
"Can you block them?" Kohaku asked, pausing.
"I might be able to," the voice told him, "but they seem to have an experienced hacker in their group. There is a possibility they could still break through."
The man sighed in annoyance. "Alright," he said. "Shut down for now."
"Move away from here quickly," the voice cautioned. "Even once I'm deactivated they can find my last known location."
"I know," Kohaku replied, speeding up. He heard the faint sound of the voice powering down. Instead of returning to Aoyagi street as he had first planned, he continued down the side street until he'd reached another back street, and turned onto there. It would be too easy to find him on Aoyagi, even though he knew he'd get hopelessly lost without the voice to give him instructions. Even so, Kohaku did his best to head towards the south district, rushing by small hobby stores and gangs of teenagers shuffling around. Eventually he slowed his pace, feeling he had built up enough distance to be reasonably safe now.
"Hey, you!" A voice called out. Kohaku squeezed his eyes shut and sighed in exasperation. As soon as he had escaped one situation he found himself in another. He turned around to see a gang of teens walking towards him. "You seem lost," the one who had spoken before grinned maliciously. "Seeing as you've wandered onto our turf and all."
"Need any help finding your way back where you belong?" Another chimed in, feigning concern.
Kohaku gritted his teeth in irritation. He hated announcing which ribsteez group he belonged to. It made him feel like he was trying to hide behind some big name. But at this point his only two options other than fighting these guys was down to stating his team or making a run for it. And Kohaku never ran.
"Yeah, i could use some help," he retorted, his voice laced with a hint of venom. "I was just trying to find Dry Juice."
"Dry Juice?!" There was a collective gasp and the gang shrunk back a bit. It was only a moment before the leader recovered himself, puffing himself out again.
"Pretty far from your territory, aren't you?" The grin returned to his face. Some of the others regained their confidence as well, though the older, more experienced seeming ones continued to look nervous. "Even if you belong to a big shot, it's not that wise to venture out alone. You never know when someone might try to take advantage of you." There was a low snicker from the others. "It's a good thing us nice gents found you before anyone like that could come along, isn't that right boys?" The laughter went up a pitch.
"Sir," one of the nervous ones whispered, "even though he's alone, if we did anything to him, Dry Juice could retaliate."
"Not if they don't ever find out it was us," the leader spat back, too prideful to listen. "It shouldn't be too hard to make him disappear." The boy still looked worried, but didn't say anything else.
Kohaku tensed himself, getting ready for the fight he knew was coming. There were nine of them, and only one of him. Even though he was an exceptional fighter, the only way he could take on all of them would be if they turned out to be insanely poor fighters, and by the looks of things, despite the obvious signs that they were a small time rib team, they still had their fair share of experience. He tapped a spot on his shoulder, and the voice came back to life.
"Kohaku?" it asked, waiting for his orders.
"I'm going to take these guys. As soon as it seems I'm in trouble, you contact Mizuki and give him my location and a brief assessment of what's happening."
"Kohaku," the voice had a worried tone. "You are already in trouble. You are outnumbered, so the chances of you beating them are roughly one in two hundred and seventy nine."
"I mean when it looks like I'm too injured or tired to keep fighting for much longer. That kind of trouble," Kohaku spoke impatiently.
"I would still advise contacting him immediately," the voice continued. "Mizuki's current location is in the bottom half of the south district. By the time he got here-"
"I don't need the details," he interrupted. "Just do as you're told!"
"Yes, Kohaku," the voice affirmed before falling silent.
The whole time they had been talking the rib gang had been drawing closer, too far away to hear what Kohaku had been whispering. Once the leader noticed he had stopped, he spoke up. "How about we go for a walk, huh friend?" He emphasized the last word to add an extra sense of danger to his statement. "We'll get you back to your turf safe and sound, but I don't see why we can't have a little fun first. We just met you after all. How about we all get to know each other?"
"Sorry," Kohaku retorted, "but I'm not interested in associating with coward ribbers that hide in the back streets."
"What did y-" the leader began, his eyes glinting with fury. Before he could finish his sentence Kohaku lunged forward, his fist connecting with the man's jaw bone.
Immediately the scene erupted into chaos. Their leader fell backwards, collapsing onto the ground. Kohaku landed one good kick to his ribs before the others were upon him. He fended off the first three, kicking one's legs out from under him and causing the next two to trip over him. The fourth came at him fast, and Kohaku was just barely able to put his arms up in time to fend off the blow. While he was preoccupied with this, another ducked around him and sunk his fist into Kohaku's side. He was knocked off balance, and stumbled back, clutching his bruised side. Before he could regain his composure, someone punched him across the face, knocking him further back. The taste of blood filled his mouth.
He caught a flash of movement out of the corner of his eye, and spun around in time to catch this attacker's fist in the palm of his hand. With his other hand Kohaku grabbed the man's arm and twisted. There was an ear splitting shriek, accompanied by the crack of the dislocated shoulder, and the ribster fell to the ground, writhing in pain. Just then a blow landed on the back of Kohaku's head and his vision momentarily blacked out, causing him to sink to his knees. A moment later when he regained his senses, he was filled with dread. The absolute worst place to find one's self in a fight was on the ground, especially when you were outnumbered. Once there, it was almost impossible to get back up again.
Sure enough, someone's foot connected with Kohaku's skull and he crumbled over. Another foot hit his stomach and the breath was knocked out of him while little pricks of light swam before his blurry vision. There was another kick to his gut, and another. The most he could do was curl up in the fetal position and try to shelter himself as best he could while blows landed across his head and and back. Things began to go dark, and the pain grew more and more numbing. He spat up blood after a vicious kick to his jaw.
Just then Kohaku was hit by a sudden burst of adrenaline. In one fluent motion he twisted around, grabbed a foot that had been poised to strike him, and brought its owner to the ground. Feverishly, he sprang on top of the assaulter, punching, clawing, kicking, and biting as though he had become a wild animal. He felt hands grabbing at him, trying to pull him off, but he clung on with all his might, limbs flailing wildly to strike anything that came near him. Someone's fist smashed down into the back of his head and he fell forward, collapsing on top of his victim.
Kohaku's sight was completely black now, and he no longer had any control over his body. He still managed to keep barely enough consciousness to be aware of his surroundings, though even that was fading fast. He felt the man beneath him push him off, and he rolled over onto his back. Several hands clutched at his arms and legs, dragging him across the ground. He could hear some muffled, angry voices coming in and out of focus, too slurred for him to make out any words. With one last raspy breath, Kohaku finally blacked out, his mind giving in to the shallow, comatose sensation.
Something cold and wet trickled down the side of Kohaku's face. Wincing, he slowly opened his eyes. Light flooded them, and he had to squint as they slowly became adjusted. A young man's angry face came into view, glaring down at him.
"You complete idiot!" he spat furiously. "What the hell were you thinking?"
"Mizuki?" Kohaku sat up, immediately regretting his decision. A wave of pain rushed to his head and he grimaced. Mizuki pushed him back down again, a little more roughly than he needed to. Kohaku let out a sharp cry as his bruised back and head met the hard surface beneath him. Wincing, he glanced around. He was in a small apartment, surrounded by an assortment of worried people. They were all friends and familiar faces he recognized from Dry Juice. Mizuki was the only one of the bunch who looked more angry than concerned. "Hey, I asked you a question," he growled.
"They confronted me," Kohaku mumbled, shutting his eyes. "I didn't have a choice." Mizuki's loud voice seemed to echo off the insides of his skull.
"So you thought you'd just take them all at once?" Mizuki was getting steadily angrier by the minute. The others in the group took a nervous step back. Their leader was seldom ever angry, but when he was it was best to steer clear. "You could have been killed!" He continued. "You were practically half dead by the time we got there! You're damn lucky Daichi's junky old car was working for once. Otherwise we never would have made it in time!"
"Finally got that scrap of metal to run, did you?" Kohaku Found Daichi's face in the crowd and managed a weak grin. The man returned his grin, but it was wiped from his face almost instantly when Mizuki shot him a poisonous look.
"Why didn't you get out of there? Or at least tell them there was a bunch of Dry Juice heading up the street right now. I bet that would've made them run, no question!"
"You're the one who told me never to lie," Kohaku started.
"Well, I figured you'd be smart enough to realize that when a dozen scum bags are about to kick your ass you can make some threats before you start swinging your fists like an idiot with a death wish!"
"Nine," Kohaku muttered.
"What?" Mizuki asked, the anger fading from his face for a moment, replaced by a look of confusion.
"There were only nine of them," Kohaku told him. "Not a dozen."
Mizuki was quiet for a moment, processing what he had said as the rage seeped back into his face. "Oh good!" He spat sarcastically. "There were only nine?! Well damn, that makes all the fucking difference! I'm amazed you couldn't take them! I mean, only nine people? That should have been no problem for you! After all, you're fucking invincible!"His eyes widened and the pitch of his voice heightened in an exasperated way.
"I get it," Kohaku sighed. "I'm sorry."
"Well that just makes everything better," Mizuki's voice was low and gruff now. He leaned back, crossing his arms over his chest in frustration. "We almost took you to the hospital," he continued quietly. The anger was gone now, replaced by a distant, tired look. "You know how unreliable medical treatment is here. You couldn't have payed the bill even if we all pitched in and pooled our money together." He blinked, turning his gaze up to the ceiling. "Still better than watching you die," Mizuki added.
It was quiet for a moment. "Thank you," Kohaku spoke up. "And I really am sorry."
"Whatever," Mizuki wouldn't meet his eyes. "Just don't pull shit like that again."
"You got it, boss." Kohaku tried to smile, but he had to stop because of the pain coming from the swollen bruise at the corner of his mouth. Mizuki saw him wince.
"Here," he said, taking the wet towel from his forehead and pressing it gently onto his cheek. "Someone fetch more ice," he called out. One of the men obeyed, bringing forward a fresh towel filled with ice. Mizuki took it from him and pressed it to Kohaku's face. Kohaku grimaced at the sudden cold sensation on his swollen skin. Mizuki pulled back the towel a little, all anger now gone from his eyes, replaced by a look of concern. "Noboru," he called to one of the men gathered around. "Is it alright if we stay at your apartment for the rest of the night? Kohaku needs to rest."
"Of course," Noboru nodded his consent.
"Thank you," Mizuki smiled half halfheartedly. "The rest of you can go home, get some sleep. I'm staying here to watch over this idiot," he tilted his head toward Kohaku, though there was still no hint of anger in his eyes or voice. "Make sure to alert the others that Dry Juice won't be doing anything tonight."
His statement was followed by murmurs. Some cleared out, headed for their homes or whatever destination they had in mind. A few of Kohaku's closer friends stayed behind to help Mizuki watch over him. It wasn't long before Kohaku drifted into a shallow, uneasy sleep. Every time he twitched or rolled over he woke up again from a new stab of pain. Most of those who stayed fell asleep as well, but Mizuki was up the whole night, his eyes glazed over with worry as he sat by Kohaku's side.