"What? Why?" she asked, confusion evident on her features.
He shrugged and ate the last piece of his tuna. "I'm curious, is all."
She stood up to walk out. "Curiosity killed the cat, you know."
He laughed and gave her one last glance. "Yes... but satisfaction brought it back."
She gave one more final glance at him before heading out and scratched the back of her head. She felt her phone vibrate in her pants pocket and she picked it up. "Yo, Ken here."
"Boss-man! We got trouble!" said Yamada-kun (from the south east district of Ikebukuro team) frantically as he ran to safety.
She tensed. "What happened?"
Yamada stopped to catch his breath. "We were... doing our usual rounds when... some of the Yellow Turbans attacked! Takemoto-kun... tried to talk things... out with them but... they didn't listen!"
She started running towards the SE area. "Where are they?"
"In one of the alleyways... near the theater! Boss, I'm gonna get back up! We were outnumbered!" from the other end of the phone, you could hear him rushing down the busy roads.
She nodded. "Go! Hurry!" She hung up and quickly dialed Naoko's number. "Dude! Trouble!"
"What? What's going on?" Naoko asked, worried.
She panted and turned on a corner. "SE team's outnumbered. Yamada-san's getting backup."
"Okay! What should I do?" Naoko panicked, the thought of his friends getting badly hurt scared him.
She dashed down another street, people yelling at her for bumping into them slowing her down. "I dunno! Call Yamada-san and get here ASAP!"
"Roger!"
She hung up and hurried to the theater. She stopped and looked around, trying to look for her friends. She heard some insults being shouted and she assumed that they were there. She stuck her hand into her pockets and pulled out a pair of brass knuckles. Usually, she didn't need to use these but it seemed like now was the perfect chance.
She ran and bumped into a blond bartender. She rubbed her nose in pain. "Ah! Watch where you're going!"
"What was that?" the blond asked.
She shook her head, forgetting her manners. "Ah, sorry! Didn't mean that!" she ran past him, going straight to the alleyway. "I'M SORRY! IN A HURRY!" She screamed at the man, hoping that he'll forgive her.
When she got there, she saw that only Takemoto-kun was up and fighting against 5 Yellow turban guys, everyone else on the ground writhing in pain (some of her guys and some Yellow turbans). She grit her teeth and the hold on the knuckles tightened. "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU BASTARDS THINK YOU'RE DOING?" She screamed and punched on of the guys in the face. He fell and held his aching face.
"Th'hell're you!" One of them asked, kicking one of her comrades on the floor.
"Boss-man!" Takemoto said happily. "I thought I was a goner!" he ducked and dodged one of the guys punches and threw his own.
She picked up a rusty pipe from the ground. "No! I'm not letting that happen!" She swung the pipe and hit someone's ribs and heard a cracking sound. She flinched at the pain she caused the other man and dropped the pipe. A fist collided with the back of her head and she stumbled on the ground. She quickly stood back up and continued her fight alongside Takemoto.
By the time Naoko and Yamada came, the remaining Yellow Turban members retreated, Takemoto and Amaya, both bloody and bruised, gasping for air. "You... made it!" Takemoto said happily. He skipped to Yamada and gave his friend a hug.
"AH! Takemoto! You're getting blood all over me!" Yamada pushed Takemoto away and the latter flinched. "Ah, Takemoto? Are you alright?"
Amaya held her shoulder. During the fight, someone pulled on her arm a little too much and she ended up dislocating it. "I think Takemoto-san broke a few ribs." she explained.
"I'll be fine." Takemoto said, hiding his pain.
"Help those injured back to HQ. We'll patch them up there." Amaya said, taking deep breath.
Naoko went to her side and let her lean on him. "You too boss-man..."
They walked back to HQ, those injured talking animatedly about their fight with those Yellow Turban bastards and showing off their battle scars to their friends who awed at the sight. Amaya, deciding to join in, smirked. "Oh yeah? Well, check my arm out!" she bragged, smiling as if she had the biggest trophy in the world.
Yamada poked her shoulder and she yelped in pain. "Ah, boss-man, that doesn't look right." he said and they entered their territory. "Here, lemme take a look." Amaya pulled her hoodie down (only enough for him to examine her shoulder and NOTHING more). "Yup. We're going to have to fix that." he nodded.
She gulped and pulled back he hoodie. "Uh, Yamada-san, don't you have to... p-pop it back into place?" She was slowly inching towards the exit but Tatsumi-san (one of Green Earth's strongest and biggest members) blocked her path.
He picked her up and threw her over his shoulder (carefully) and brought her back then sitting her down on the makeshift couch. "Sorry boss-man. It has to be done." He held her free arm in place and fear made her hands go cold and she shivered.
"S-surely there is some other way?" she stuttered, thinking of a thousand possible excuses to let her be. "I-i could, u-uhm, k-keep it in a sling! Th-that'll help, right?" She felt a hand wrap around hers and she was surprised to see Naoko-kun holding her hand. "It's okay, Ken-kun. I'll be here for you." He said in a comforting voice and she gulped one last time before nodding.
"1...2...3!" Yamada pulled and popped her arm back into place and she screamed bloody murder.
-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-
She was walking to school, in the end, with her arm in a sling. She needed to talk to Takemoto later on about why the Yellow Turbans attacked. She needed answers, NOW.
"Ah, Amaya-chan! What happened?" Mikado asked and she turned around to find 3 pairs of eyes staring at her arm. "Are you alright?"
She nodded and gave them her signature smile. "Yup! Just a little accident while... uhm, running. I barely dodged that car, ahahaa..." she hoped that was believable.
Kida grabbed her bag from her hand and tutted. "The pretty lady is injured! I shall be your night in shining armor for the day!" he spun around his three friends. "Or maybe for the rest of your life?" he suggested with a smile on his face and she laughed.
The day went on normally except today kida lent her his notes (the sweet boy, she thought). She was already changed and was walking to HQ when she was surrounded by the Yellow Turbans. "As much as I want to beat the shit out of you guys, I really cant so can we save this for another day?" she asked, hoping that they would let her be for now.
The one with the baseball bat shook his head. "'fraid not, you little brat." he spat out. "Are you Ken Fukushima? Or as your subordinates call, 'Boss-man?'"
She nodded slowly, not sure if that was the wisest idea. "If I am?"
"Come with us. Our leader wants a word with you." He explained and she gave him a bewildered look. "If yer gonna struggle, we're gonna have to force you. Come with us peacefully and ye might not break yer other arm." he threatened and she had no choice but o follow. It was a good idea anyway to confront their leader, maybe even ask for a truce between the two gangs.
When they arrived at the Hideout, it was dimly lit and it took Amaya a few minutes to get adjusted to the lighting. She was pushed rather harshly towards the center of the building where their leader, she assumed, sat on a much nicer makeshift couch. His blond hair and chocolate colored eyes made her gasp softly.
The boy opposite her stared back with curious and calculating eyes until one of his lackeys came in and out of breath, telling him that they found a girl in the premises. He nodded and commanded everyone in the room to bring her back to him as he had a conversation with their guest.
She sat down on one of the boxes surrounding her as Kida approached. "A-amaya-chan? Is that you?" He questioned, his shock being well hidden.
She stared at him and nodded. "I didn't think that Kida-kun would be the leader of the Yellow Turbans..." she said quietly and the rain outside began to pour, filling the room with white noise.
He sat next to her, surprisingly calm despite what he found out. "And I didn't think that Amaya-chan would be the leader of DOLLARS."
Her head snapped at his direction. "Me? The leader of DOLLARS? Kida, you're joking, right?" she asked bewildered.
"I heard from some of my men that they encountered DOLLAR members, saying their boss was someone named Ken Fukushima." He explained. "Don't lie to me. Are you the leader?"
She shooke her head, then slowly nodded. "I am a leader... but not for the DOLLARS. I myself am a member." she explained. "Haven't you heard of my group?"
"No, I'm afraid not."
"Well-"
"Shogun! They girl! We can't find her!" interrupted a drenched man.
Kida clicked his tongue in annoyance and stood up. "Fine. I'll go in this direction and you guys go and search." He dashed down another exit and Amaya shrugged to herself and followed Kida. They ran in the rain, searching for this mysterious girl. They bumped into a few members and they turned around. "Boss, it's kinda cramped in there..." one man explained.
Amaya thought that maybe she should go. It was a girl they were looking for, right? She thought that maybe they could settle things peacefully and attempted to go in until she felt Kida's hand on her shoulder. "Huh?"
He shook his head, gesturing with his eyes her still sore shoulder. "I'll go in. You guys wait out here." She nodded, (Kida seems to know what to do anyway) and moved aside but only after she had whispered "I think you are in there... don't worry.. I wont let them hurt you." to whoever it may be. She wasn't even sure if there was anyone there but, whatever.
The roar of a bike caught the attention of everyone and they all looked of its source. A girl clad in black jumped a wall with her motorcycle and landed loudly and somewhat gracefully into the perimeter. Amaya heard a phone ring from where Kida was trying to slip into earlier and smiled. There was someone there and they needed a distraction to escape. "Could that be the headless biker?" She shouted exaggeratively, hoping to be the distraction. "THATS SO COOL!" The headless biker drove past several members, past Amaya and past Kida and biked up another wall.
"Celty-san!" A voice called and fortunately only Amaya noticed it. The voice was too familiar. It was Anri-chan and she knew it but decided to keep this information to herself. Why is Anri-chan here? The biker came back down after a few seconds with a passenger behind her.
"I've seen you around for a while." Kida started as the headless biker (or from what Amaya heard from Naoko, the Dullahan) stopped in the center of everyone. "I always though that riding suit was to curvy to be a guy. I don't care about guys but if you're a girl, then I can love that suit alone." He locked his hands together, looking like a girl talking about love. "If I fell in love with a nun, I'd even love the gown she wore."
The dullahan stared at Kida for a moment (Even Amaya was. "That was one of his best lines yet!" she thought happily despite the situation) before darkness seeped from her shadow and spread across the floor. The neighing and appearance of a headless horse surprised everyone. The horse dashed towards Kida and Amaya pushed him out of the way before he could get hit. They both fell on the ground unhurt and stared in amazement before picking themselves up again.
One of the fallen members cursed and picked up a steal pipe from the ground and hurled it towards the two escapees. "MONSTER!" he screamed.
Kida ran to stop him, "Don't!" but it was already impossible to dodge.
Just before the pipe collided with the pair, the passenger pulled out a katana from nowhere and cut it in half where it clattered noisily on the ground. Everyone stared and the headless biker and the slasher as they stood before them, everyone too shocked or frighted at the sight to move. Amaya, despite the danger that could happen, was amazed. She saw the glint of a pair of eyeglasses in front of the glowing red eyes and she couldn't say that the intruder, the escapee, the slasher was indeed her quiet friend, Anri.
Kida's face contorted to a grimace. "Hey, you ever heard of a dullahan?" he asked no one in particular. "They say its a headless knight with a headless horse, who visits the homes of those who are about to die. Heh, like the grim reaper."
Amaya stared. He couldn't be thinking...
Kida stared walking away, mumbling to himself so quietly that she couldn't hear. She ran up beside him, thinking he just needed someone to be by his side.
"The sky ain't blue... Ain't yellow either..."
Author's notes:
Longest. Chapter. EVER.
yay me!
Sorry about type=o's and grammar no-no's...I'm too lazy to edit :T