A.N: Hello! Just like to say a couple of things!
Thank you everyone for the feedback, some comments have made me laugh so hard and some have given great advice and helped me steer the story, there have been a lot of constructive comments. The positive far outweigh the negatives and I admit I was terrified when I posted the first chapter, I have never done anything like this before, and I am still nervous to post each update.
A lot of people have been commenting on how Takaba is a jerk, which yeah, he might seem that way, sure Asami saved him and blah blah blah but this fic is based on the fact that it's not as easy to bounce back from the physiological damage that the incidents in Hong Kong would have caused.
Takaba had no control over what happened to him, literally powerless, being raped and held prisoner would change a person, there is no doubt about it, and he lost all control when he came home to find his apartment empty.
Personally, I feel that some fics treat it too lightly, so this is my take on it, if you don't like it, don't read it, or give me constructive advice (some peoples' have actually really helped me with the story, but they are guests most of the time, so I can't thank them or I would), not just negative one liners.
The whole reason that Akihito enjoys fighting and training so much is because he feels like he has more control of his body and mind, more control of what happens to him, martial arts gave him confidence that he lost, not just muscles and a great body, he had the confidence to face Fei Long again because of that. That's also the reason he stuck with Mutou and the others, because he wasn't treated like an object but as person who could make their own choice. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is a serious mental condition so it's no surprise Akihito would be out of character if he had it.
Sure not going home for 2 years or contacting people is selfish, moving someone's stuff into your apartment without permission is too, aaaand it's my fic, so I'll write what I want.
Takaba hasn't faced Asami yet because, well, that's the final hurdle for him to get over, which is symbolized by his first pro fight in Tokyo.
Asami might not like the Takaba now, but that's for me to decide. I like a strong Takaba, not one that always needs rescuing, so that's what I have done.
Anyway, I'm not that good at explaining stuff, but thought I'd give it a go. Whether it helps people understand or not I don't know. It's a fanfic, my first one at that, I don't get paid, so you can't expect a flawless story line and people to be 100% in character. The entire point of a fanfic is for people to put their own spin on it.
Gah, and now I feel like I had a big grump, tone is so hard to get across over the Internet! I'm merely answering some queries in common that people had. The continued feedback is always appreciated.
Back to the chapter, I had lots of trouble writing fight sequences, I even got my husband (who practices Jiu Jitsu) to try some throws and joint locks on me so I would better know how to write it out. The dogs had fun jumping all over us as we practiced on the lounge floor, haha!
Anyway, nervous to post this one as it's the long awaited fight! Back to the story…
The body in which one dwells is the only thing they can truly call their own. – Kitano Ken.
Sun-ken Rock Manga.
Akihito barely registered the roaring crowd and flashing lights as he made his way into the blinding light, it was all white noise in his ears and the faces blurred into a seething mass apart from those of his teammates and opponent, which stuck out like beacons. Even the referee was a faceless figure.
He entered the cage once again after taking his tracksuit off and receiving encouragement and advice from Ibiki.
Shuuhei just said, "do your best" and Mutou told him to pound the Korean bastard into the ground. They would be ready to see to any injuries and bring his water during the minute between rounds.
Akihito eyed the walls of the cage and couldn't help but think of the irony of it all. For him to be free at last, he had to put himself in this cage. It was so cliché he almost laughed, but the fleeting emotion was swept under the torrent of calm that was taking over his system.
He felt niggles of uncertainty and nervousness eat at the corners of his calm, the mixture of his emotions a perfect concoction, fuel for his heart and courage for his soul, his muscles soaked all his feelings in, ready to fire at will.
He touched gloves with his Korean opponent, Sagong Lee, in greeting before the bell for the first round sounded.
The Korean stood 7cm taller then him, his long limbs had a further reach then what Akihito did, but he was leaner, what he had in range, Akihito could make up for with strength and agility.
Tae Kwon Do was Sagong's specialty, so Akihito had to be consistent with his guard, if he let one kick through to his face it would be over.
It was an exhilarating feeling as he exchanged flurries with his adversary, twice he was close to his leg being caught and thrown, but he managed to catch the slight change in stance before he followed all the way through. He gave as good as he got, landing hits with speed alone.
Sagong was sharp, and aware of Akihito's every move. It was electrifying, and Akihito knew he had to get his rival to the ground to tap him out, or win by KO, if it went by points they would be even.
Akihito estimated they were near the end of the round, and he had had enough of testing the waters, seeing what punches landed and what was blocked. He felt his blood surge as he went for a last second strategy, he knew he was taking a gamble, but he swallowed a breath and let his guard down a fraction, hoping to lure the Korean into his risky trap.
Akihito's instincts were spot on, and he had just enough time to divert the flying fist aiming straight for his face, he whipped the arm downwards with his forward hand, and with Sagong's lead arm immobilized, there was nothing the taller man could do as Akihito stepped in and delivered a glancing elbow off the Sagong's eyebrow with his behind arm.
Akihito put all the power of his core and hips into it as he whipped his torso around for the blow, as a result the mans head snapped back and Akihito allowed himself a small satisfaction as he saw blood running down Sagong's face, his eyebrow split open. It was a flawless execution, picturesque in it's effectiveness as the ruby red ran down his challengers face.
The crowd was hungry for blood, and there was a frenzy as Akihito granted the crowds request.
The fact that the mousey haired fighter had gone for the punch instead of a kick when Akihito's guard was down also proved that he was underestimating Akihito, the next round wouldn't be so easy now that Akihito had shown his worth.
The bell sounded, the first round was over.
Suoh sat back down and put his hands on his knees, the bodyguard had unconsciously got caught up in the crowd and had stood up to cheer for Takaba as his elbow brutally connected with the Koreans face.
The little bastard had played a clever game at the end there and it had paid off. After getting over the initial shock of seeing the person Takaba had become, Suoh watched the first round in earnest, observing what the spitfire would do with his more experienced foe.
To everyone else it would look like Sagong was taking the fight, but small movements and stopped punches told the trained eye the fight was slowly shifting Takaba's way before the round ended. It would be a wake up call for the taller fighter, the next round would be interesting.
Nevertheless, it was after the matches when the real fight would be, he wasn't sure how they were going to corner him afterwards, if he was with the other three getting any answers would be difficult, he didn't want to resort to guns with martial artists.
Kirishima could hardly believe it, Akihito was fighting in a professional fight not 10 meters away from him, the Akihito that they had been looking for, for over 2 years.
He had just come waltzing into the ring as if he belonged and announced his name to the entire world as if to say 'Here I am, I'm not running anymore'.
To make matters worse his colleague of over 10 years, his stoic best friend, had gotten up to cheer for him, the stars must really be aligning for so many strange things to be happening, because Kirishima found himself rooting for Takaba as well.
He wondered what his boss thought of all this, at least it was now clear that the Feilong theory was false, the boy still had a lot of explaining to do however.
Asami couldn't take his eyes off Akihito as he sat down on the stool that was quickly put in his corner of the ring, his friends had taken his mouth guard out for him and gave him some water.
He was the picture of calm as his teammates flurried around him, wiping him with a towel and massaging his thighs. He nodded his head every now and then in understanding as the other men offered tips and strategies, Asami was too far away to hear what was said over the noise, but he knew that Akihito had taken the upper hand with his clever tactic at the end. It was just like cheeky Takaba to try something that risky.
He could hardly comprehend that the Takaba Akihito before him was the naïve boy he had saved from Hong Kong only 2 years ago.
He was a boy no longer, Asami was looking at a man in the ring. He was a man that respected himself, and had respect from the people around him. A man who moved with no hesitation, a man in control of himself, who would not be stepped on by anyone. Asami enjoyed a good challenge.
The Akihito before him was an enigma, so far fetched from the one he knew that it would be easy to believe it wasn't the same person, if it weren't for his mouthy display in the alley 3 days prior. And the fact he had stupidly checked on people who had apparently just tried to mug him. Asami smirked at the memory.
He had to approach with caution this time.
Takaba kept his breathing steady while sitting down for the one-minute break, he couldn't afford to lose concentration now.
He heard Mutou's voice next to his ear, calm and un phased, "Akihito, since you landed the last hit, he is going to bring it up a notch, you need to finish it this round even if it kills you. Going into the last round wont be good for you, got it?"
"Mhhmm. Got it." He managed to get out before Shuuhei shoved his mouth guard back in.
He felt strong hands pull him up and clap him on the back right before the second round bell sounded.
Mutou was right, Sagong took full advantage of his long reach from the get go, and he was no longer taking it easy. They were both obviously thinking the same thing, finish it this round. His foe had managed to stem the bleeding of his eyebrow but if it went on any longer for the Korean and it got in his eyes, it was as good as a loss in close fight like this.
Akihito's body began to ache as more and more of Sagong's kicks slipped under his guard to strike his ribs.
Sagong had reach and speed. The situation was getting volatile.
This was the most evenly matched Akihito had been with someone, it was either flat out defeat or victory before this, his heart was racing from the anticipation.
The blond tried to slip inside Sagong's kick to grab his thigh for a throw over the hip, and nearly succeeded, but because of the mans long legs Akihito couldn't get a good enough grip without getting dangerously close.
He settled for landing low body shots and trying leg sweeps as a counter. It was a stalemate.
Both men's chest were heaving with effort, Takaba had landed a nice blow on the mans oblique's with his shin. Akihito shifted his stance so fast to whip his leg out that Sagong didn't have time to bring his knee up to block, however because of his longer legs, the Korean landed a roundhouse kick right on Akihito's chin, going over the top of his guard as Akihito was trying to step back.
It hit with full power, an audible slap of skin against skin was heard. Akihito's brain was jolted in his head, and he went down in what felt like slow motion, all sounds went mute.
Mutou watched calmly with Ibiki and Shuuhei from their seats just feet away from the enclosure, Akihito was dishing out as much as he got, but the bastard Korean's reach looked like it was a pain to deal with.
They had all agreed that Takaba had to win by groundwork or KO, the man's standing fight would be a mammoth task for Akihito to overcome. Akihito's heart must he thumping in his chest, but you would never tell from his composed features, Mutou would never admit it to Akihito himself, but he was becoming quite the formidable little fighter.
There was only two minutes left in the round, both fighters were getting fatigued, Akihito needed to finish it soon.
He spotted Sagong's fake attempt to block as Akihito gave him a side kick, it was a perfect faint and he doubted Takaba even knew that it was, Mutou shot up out of his seat as the Korean's shin made full connection with Akihito's face in a perfect roundhouse.
Akihito fell, landing with a loud thud against the ground as Sagong advanced on him.
Asami observed in silence as he watched the vicious dance in front of him, both fighters revolving around each other waiting to pounce on an opening, it was much more interesting then watching two people stand off with guns drawn.
It seems the Korean found the opening first and kicked Akihito clean in the head, it would be over shortly.
The whole arena was on it's feet, Suoh was out of his chair beside him, and Kirishima had his fists clenched on the table. Asami just sat, his eyes narrowed on the blond figure crashing to the floor.
Out of the corner of his eye he noticed the tallest of the team, Mutou Ryuhei, stand up and approach the side of the ring.
Takaba's brain caught up with his head as he landed with a crash, the hit had disoriented him and he fell badly, leaving himself in an awkward positon as Sagong loomed over him to start hammering at his face and body.
Suddenly, he heard from somewhere behind him, Mutou's distinctive pissed off shout, "You better not lose you maggot! Think about what you've been learning for the last two weeks, dumbass!"
Akihito allowed himself a knowing smirk as a mere two weeks worth of intensive Jiu Jitsu training flooded his mind, the situation picture perfect as Akihito flicked his hips upwards to wrap one of his legs firmly around Sagong's, locking it into position. With his other foot he managed to sweep out the Korean's other leg, who fell backwards away from Akihito, the result was a textbook leg lock.
Akihito lay on his side with his opponent's leg trapped in between his, he secured it tightly with his arms wrapped around the ankle by his face, his foe's kneecap pointed towards his body. Akihito applied pressure against the knee with his hips, forcing Sagong's leg to straighten, hyperextending the knee joint.
He had taken Sagong completely off guard, and there was nothing he could do as Akihito began to apply more force, pushing the joint further, if Akihito had been a split second slower Sagong would have been able to buck out of it.
Time stood still and he didn't think Sagong was going to yield, Takaba began to feel the grind of joints as the knee was pushed to it's limits, any further and Akihito was going to cause serious damage.
The crowd was thunderous as the referee went to ground beside Sagong, waiting for the signal that Akihito thought would never come.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, he heard Sagong cry out from the pain and felt vibrations of fists against the ground as the Korean tapped out of the fight. The referee called it and the bell sounded.
In the fourth minute of the second round, Takaba Akihito was declared the winner by tap out.
Takaba Akihito had come home.
