A/N: Minato has gained the upper hand so far early in his bout with none other than the massive striker, Akihiko, BUT he won't go down that easily! Any type of support is appreciated of course onward!

Chapter 21: "Striking" Comeback

Akihiko was lying on the floor as Minato was lying on top of the ropes as if he was on a hammock, arrogance clear in his prone position and facial expression. Akihiko struggled to regain his sense Minato readied his next move. Yu couldn't help but notice how cold and calculated the latter was already, not even five minutes into the match, which to him, was a little unsettling.

Akihiko got up and turned his attention to Minato as the latter went in for another Shining Wizard to the head, but this time it was anticipated as Akihiko swatted Minato away and went for a Headlock, only to pick up the much scrawnier Minato by the scruff of his neck. Using his brute strength, Akihiko re-adjusted his grip and held his opponent in a full-nelson, picked him up and slammed him square to the mat with a Full Nelson Slam. Wasting no time, he immediately picked Minato back up, and lifted him up onto his shoulders. Akihiko spun him around towards one of the four corners and dropped him face-first onto the top turnbuckle, quickly sending Minato crashing to the ground.

"Fuck this tool, I'm gonna go for the finisher right now. Hey now Shinjiro, watch this…this one is for you." Akihiko smirked as he went in for the kill.

He cracked his neck and readied his fist. Minato turned around and was about to take a Knockout Punch to the face, but he ducked out of the way and ran towards the ropes and threw himself over the top, landing feet first onto the apron. Akihiko realized his error and went towards his prey, only for Minato to nail him with a Palm Strike to the forehead, followed by a double Ear Clap to the sides of his head, causing Akihiko to stumble backwards, while Minato measured his opponent for his next move. Not thinking twice, he threw himself up feet first on the top rope, performing a Springboard Flying Knee, striking Akihiko right in the face, but to the respective horror and delight of Minato and the crowd, Akihiko stood standing, almost as if he absorbed the hit. An ever defiant Minato walked towards him and slapped him, further getting under the skin of the crowd as they started to boo Minato. He then walked over to Yu's direction and averted his attention to Chie, blowing a kiss at her, much to Chie's disgust. Yu on the other hand, was uncharacteristically furious at what had just happened.

"You bastard! I'll kill you!" Yu yelled as he attempted to jump the guard rail, only for Yosuke and Teddie to hold him back. They were even shocked Yu would let someone like Minato get under his skin so easily. They then realized possibly how protective Yu seemed to be towards Chie.

"Bro calm down! This isn't like you…don't let him get to you like that, especially so easily." Yosuke warned.

"Yosuke's right Sen-sei!" Teddie struggled as he held onto Yu's toned left arm. "Don't bow down so easily to his bar-bear-ic antics! He isn't worth it!" Teddie warned just as much.

Yu realized how out of hand he got and attempted to relax. Chie was too frightened to say anything though.

"I'm sorry guys…I need to sit back down and relax." Yu said, still gritting his teeth.

Back in the ring, Minato laughed at his mental handiwork as her averted his attention back to Akihiko, but apparently Minato gave him too much time recover as Akihiko threw his fist and at Minato, striking him in the nose with the Knockout Punch, causing blood to spill from his nostrils, easily knocking him senseless as Akihiko went for the cover.

ONE! TWO! THREE! *DING DING DING*

Just like that, Akihiko scored a win for himself, much to the hoots of the crowd as he raised his arm in triumphant, while maintaining his usual stoic look. Akihiko rolled out of the ring as starting walking to the back. Minato got up onto one knee before he took a surprise Superkick to the face by none other than Yu, who evidently could not keep his temper under control.

Chie had to rush to the ring and intervene as Minato sat with his head down, a bloody pulp.

"Yu-kun calm down please! This is scary and so not you! Please…" Chie pleaded, trying to hold her boyfriend back. Before anyone could even blink, a three hooded individuals arose from the bottom of the ring and attacked Chie and Yu from behind. The first two revealed themselves to be Yukari and Junpei. Yosuke then rushed to the ring only to be stomped by Junpei while Yukari secured Chie down to the ground with a knee to the back and an Armbar.

"Oh god, you bitch! You're gonna break my damn arm!" Chie cried, nearly in tears as Yukari fastened her hold.

Yu went to save his girlfriend before he was tackled to the ground by Minato, who reached his hands onto Yu's face and pulled back in the form of a Crossface.

"What goes around comes around you fucking twat, and boy did I have you fooled, did you really think I would ever go for little wench when I have a real woman in Yukari?" Minato hissed.

"Up yours, you fuck." Yu managed to muster before Minato loosened his grip and began stomping out his rival. Things did not look good at all, until Akihiko finally took notice of what was going on. He scanned and studied the situation, noticing that the third individual that accompanied Yukari and Junpei was still disguised in a mask. He smirked and ran back the ring, to the surprise of the fans as they began cheering again, and began attacking the masked man or woman while Chie, Yosuke and Yu broke free as their respective adversaries were distracted enough to reveal a weakness. The three of them huddled together as Minato, Yukari and Junpei were facing away from them, as they were now fixated on Akihiko, who was attacking the remaining masked person, but was unsuccessful as they slithered away, poked Akihiko in the eye and ran out of the arena. Akihiko made this a perfect opportunity to voice his snarkiness.

"Hey jackasses, looks like trouble in paradise for you…" he said simply as he pointed behind them. As soon as Minato, Yukari and Junpei turned around, Yu, Chie and Yosuke all gave their respective rivals big boots to the face in unison as the former group got rocked, and rolled out of the ring.

"Fuck this shit, let's get outta here dude!" Junpei yelled as the three of them retreated, while Akihiko greeted the three in the ring.

"Thanks guys, I guess you were a big help to me." Akihiko said.

"Hey no problem Akihiko-kun, you won anyway so yeah!" Chie yelled in celebration.

"Heh heh, well before I celebrate anything, let me talk to loverboy alone here, referring to Yu.

Chie and Yosuke were understandably hesitant to leave, but Yu assured them like usual.

"It's okay guys, I got this. Just go on ahead and I'll meet all of you guys at Aiya's later so we can cool down." Yu said.

"Alright partner, if you say so, come on Chie and hey! Teddie! Get your furry ass over here! We're heading to Aiya's!" Yosuke yelled.

"Grrrr, you don't have to scream so loudly you un-bear-able prude!" Teddie said in defense.

"Hey guys! Sometime today?" Akihiko said rather sternly.

"Chie…it's okay, just go on ahead. I'll explain my behavior later. I promise." Yu said in comfort.

"Mmmm, okay then, just be careful Yu-kun." Chie said, kissing him on the cheek, causing him and her to blush a little, and with that, they were off, leaving Akihiko and Yu alone in the ring as the former grabbed a microphone.

"You know, I've seen a lot of you around here lately, and I need to say…I respect you, especially a helluva lot more than Minato, but I'll tell you this as well, all these rumors about this IWA Championship tournament is making me damn hungry for more competition." Akihiko stopped himself before extended his hand towards Yu. Yu stared for a second before reluctantly shaking his hand. As Yu went to break the handshake, he turned his back while doing so, but Akihiko unexpectedly grabbed Yu from behind in the form of a wristlock, and clotheslined him square to the chest, nearly flipping him. Yu fell almost on his head as he looked up in shock. Akihiko picked the mic back up as he became amused by the confused crowd.

"Hey, no love lost between us at all buddy, but if you get in my way during this tournament, whenever it may happen. If you're wondering why I did that, it was my way of assuring that I won't hesitate to take you or anyone else out, and for all I care it could be that freaky big-nosed bastard callin' the shots, it doesn't matter who it is! So hang tight Narukami…I get the feeling this is the beginning of a beautiful rivalry…"

Akihiko finished as he rolled out of the ring, smirk evident as Yu was left by himself to be cheered by the crowd. Yu soaked it in nonetheless, but he had a ton of things on his mind. Would this tournament happen? What about his tag partner and best friend Yosuke? Who would be lost in the shuffle? Who was that third masked person? Was Chie okay? He couldn't think straight but left the arena nonetheless to the cheers and headed towards Chinese Diner Aiya, fully loaded with emotional turmoil…

END

Oh boy, wasn't that a doozy!? Minato was bested but it seems like he still got the last laugh in the end despite literally being booted out of the arena along with his henchmen/woman. One thing to wonder is who the third person was…heh, see? I tried adding a little mystery in there for a change. Support is appreciated for sure. Thank you and see you next time!

1:21 AM: Anthofitzgerald needs to do homework….stats homework. O.O