[Some Violence]
For the next few days, they worked on getting into a routine. The days turned into a week and no thugs came. It was possible that no one knew where they were. But they couldn't become complacent, because that would leave them vulnerable if threat did come. The game room and theatre were popular areas to relax in. The brothers and twins also used the gym and pool often. For the Chiba Twins it was paradise, after living in the slums for so long, prior to meeting the Amamiya Brothers. Eventually Saigo let them interact with the two they were protecting. The snitches were shy and overly paranoid, still mostly keeping to them selves.
To relieve boredom Masaki trained the twins on gun and knife defence, which also supplemented their moves for dealing with bats or metal bars. Hiroto was usually the attacker, but he also helped explain the moves. Noriko knew more about the book techniques, but not real life implementation. When it was their dad teaching, Asuga rarely was able to remain motivated to stay focused and learn or practice. Saigo lent his gun to Masaki, after removing the bullets from the clip and chamber, so the girls weren't accidentally injured.
"For all types of defence against weapons there are two key rules to remember: stay out of the way and expect the unexpected. As you know Noriko, just because you know what to do, doesn't mean it will happen that way. Stay calm. Expect to be cut a few times, when trying to disarm a knife." Masaki attacked Hiroto with the butter knife they were using as a prop.
"Can you slow it down? It seems like this kind of training is like you're on autopilot Hiroto." Asuga complained, unable to follow the movements.
Masaki scolded, "if you can't see it, you can't defend against it." Still he went at his brother slower. "Each time Hiroto first gets out of the line of danger. The best way is controlling your attacker's arm. Don't try to do too much at once, handle the problem at hand, which is the knife."
"Strikes to the throat, when you are close enough, can damage their trachea and disrupt their breathing. This means you need to be arms length away and they might still be able to cut you." Hiroto didn't hit Masaki, but demonstrated the move. "Use your elbow, it's one of the hardest parts of your body and solid bone. The most power is striking forward with it."
They continued and the sisters practiced on each other, switching up who was defending or attacking, so both could learn the movements. Masaki and Hiroto would stop them and either correct or explain a more efficient way to fight. Once the knife defence became fast and smooth, they diverged into gun defence.
Hiroto explained, "most guys who use knives, guns and bats or iron pipes, don't know how to actually fight. If you take their weapon away from them, you've got a good chance of beating their asses."
"Just for the record, when I got shot, there was no other option available, except to protect Hiroto with my body. His life is more important than mine," Noriko stated simply.
Masaki stopped the training immediately, almost angry at her for saying that. "That's not true, everyone's life matters. You can't help someone else, if you can't help yourself. I thank you saving him, but it was stupid."
Hiroto had once tried to talk to Noriko about this thought before, and knew how stubborn she got. "We all should wear the vests Saigo got us, all the time, especially on patrol."
"Yeah, I bet most of the thugs aren't expert marksmen. " Asuga agreed, trying to defuse the situation between her man and sister.
It was during their practice session, that Saigo came and advised that in two weeks, the court date had been set and the witnesses would be transported to the courthouse. Once they'd been delivered safely, the job would be over and they would get paid.
"We've used up all the food supplies. I'll make a list of what we will need, or do you want me to go shopping instead?" Noriko asked Saigo.
Masaki offered, "I can go with her."
"Take the van," Saigo said and handed the keys to the eldest Amamiya brother.
Asuga and the witnesses requested some junk food, but other than that it was all what Noriko needed in the kitchen.
"I think this is the first time I've seen you drive a car," Noriko grinned.
Masaki couldn't help flirting, it was just in his nature. "I have a lot of talents you don't know about."
She laughed and lightly punched him in the arm. "I'm happy with the brother I got." After a few moments she added, "he looks up to you, even if his word and actions don't show it."
"I know, just like Asuga does with you."
"She's become more self reliant and responsible thanks to you. She barely comes to me for anything, not that I mind. You've helped her mature," Noriko explained.
Masaki shot a side glance at her, "why do you give yourself so little credit? Sure I've helped her become a better fighter and more confident, but you're the one who's influence has made her grow."
Noriko sighed, "do you really think so?"
"You're an idiot," he teased. "And stubborn, you even top Hiro for that."
"Thanks for the compliment. I'm a woman it's my prerogative."
They bantered back and forth, he had her laughing hysterically and the joy in it, sounded nice. Even while they got groceries, she couldn't stop giggling. At the till, an older woman behind them asked if they were newly weds.
"He's married to my sister and I'm married to his brother," Noriko replied.
"What a nice family. It's rare to find such a good match up."
Masaki helped the old lady with her groceries and was a total gentleman. It was endearing. On the way back, they talked about the old woman. Noriko noticed Masaki checking his rearview mirror frequently.
"Do we have unwanted company?"
He shrugged, "not sure. I could be just overly aware. The car is bright blue, not something thugs usually drive. But it has been following us it seems, from the grocery store. I've back tracked our route and it's there taking every turn we do."
She used the vanity mirror on the sun visor, pretending to check her hair. "Yup it seems suspicious. Should I call ahead to have Asuga and Hiroto join us?"
"Yeah, maybe to just see who is in the car. If it's four or five men, we know it's trouble for sure." Masaki agreed, then turned down another more busy road.
"Hiroto, we might have a tail, you and my sister should come check it out. The blue car, always stays far enough away, that we can't see it's occupants." Noriko gave their location and hung up. Shortly after she got a text. "Asuga said she looked up some bars in the area. When she takes the lead, follow her."
"Will any of the groceries spoil, if we're delayed?"
"No. I packed them in a way they should keep each other cold. No sunlight is hitting them either and the window tint will keep it cooler in the car anyway."
They stayed on the busy road. At an intersection, they saw Hiroto and Asuga on their motorcycles. Initially they rode behind and then beside the blue car, after that Asuga came in front and made a hand signal to follow her. They arrived at a parking lot of a bar and grill. It was closed, but Noriko pretended she didn't know it was. As if they'd plan to arrive at the bar as a meet up spot. Hiroto parked his Harley and turned it off, he came up to Noriko, as Masaki got out of the van and hugged Asuga.
After kissing Noriko, Hiroto said in her ear, "you two were right, it's thugs in that blue car."
Since she was facing the parking lot she added, "I guess this is as good a place as any to fight. Here they come."
Masaki pretended to take pictures of Asuga by her motorcycle, while making sure to get a shot of the blue car's license plate for Saigo. Hiroto covered Noriko, so she could call the house and give a head's up to Kikuchi and Saigo. How they'd been found, no one could really know, perhaps patrols of men were checking all the safe houses that maybe someone leaked. It didn't matter now anyway, the only important thing was beating these thugs and returning to protect the witnesses. Soon after the blue car arrived, more vehicles showed up.
"There's at least fifty to one hundred guys here," Noriko said nervously.
Masaki was confident in his brother and himself, as well as the girls. "We've taken on more ourselves and now we've got the Chiba Twins with us. Let's kick some ass, it's been boring lately."
Due to the volume of thugs, the mafia men themselves didn't bring guns, yet some had metal rebar or pipes and others knives. Masaki told the girls to stand back to back with him and Hiroto. The girls would protect themselves and the guys' backs, while the brothers took on the main force of mafia men. Unlike most, Masaki's high kicks were lightning fast and full of power. He quickly disarmed multiple men. Then the guys with the metal bars moved forward, Masaki rushed the men. He came in fast and closed the distance so they couldn't wind up for a good swing, lessening the force of it. He threw a few elbows and any bar that aimed for his head, he let the blow get absorbed by his shoulders or upper arms. Although Masaki didn't throw punches as much as his brother, he still could stagger a man, if not knock him out. The guys who got that first kick from Masaki, a few recovered and tried to hamstring him with their knives. Asuga and Noriko were there to protect him and thrashed anyone who got between them and the brothers. All the hours of training, proved to be effective.
Hiroto and Masaki worked together, optimizing their strengths. They helped each other get elevation to punch and kick, when the mob of men rushed them at once. One particular move, Masaki launched Hiroto, who twisted almost cat-like and was able to throat kick multiple men and finish them with bone breaking punches. It almost looked like the Amamiya Brothers were in a video game, pulling off multiple combination moves. Hiroto rammed his fist into a thug's face, getting torn on the teeth, giving him bloody knuckles. White chiclets went flying and red saliva sprayed everywhere. The thugs were like swarming ants, being stomped on by Masaki. But that didn't mean the Chiba Sisters were not busy too. Asuga and Noriko used their kicks to try and keep most of the men at a distance. Those who broke through their defences, found out the girls had an arsenal of moves for disarming them too. One of the techniques was to torque the arm and apply painful pressure on the nerves of the wrist. Asuga liked to use both hands to grip the attacker's forearm, where the knuckles from the palm side were applied to the recipient's radial nerve against the periosteum forearm bone. Men dropped their weapons every time she did that move. Noriko also would do an inverted grip on the wrist, causing a rotation of the man's arm and shoulder, with downward pressure on the elbow. It allowed her to take away the knife from her attacker, if they got too close. Sometimes when they put pressure on the hand or wrist and folded it past the shoulder, it would cause the shoulder joint to lock and was very painful. One man passed out, as his arm was broken with a twig like snap. The men looked like they were doing a chicken dance, with their arms in so many weird positions. Asuga also used a lot of hip throws to flip her attacker and allow her to do groin stomps. Unlike the Mighty Warriors, there were no women fighters today.
A big muscular man, who moved his arms like he might have once been a boxer, came at the younger Amamiya brother. Hiroto danced on the balls of his feet. The man swung at him, using a roundhouse punch, which Hiroto ducked and returned with a combo of punches that pounded into the man's kidney and liver. Hiroto knew that it's not what punches you throw, but how you threw the punches. The man was taller and bigger, but that meant all Hiroto had to do was alter his aim, angle and timing of his combinations. Sometimes his fists were to distract and other times they had so much power, that the receiving victim could be launched several feet into the air. Every swing this attacker made, was to have the power of a haymaker, but it also tired the man out faster than someone more agile. It was a basic 1-2-5-2 combo, (jab-cross-left uppercut-cross), that allowed Hiroto to finish off the muscle man with his right fist. It was so violent that the thug's jaw broke and the white bone thrust through his cheek with a sickening wet sound. His scream scared the other men around him, before the thug fell unconscious to the parking lot pavement.
Masaki had Noriko spin him in a circle, so his feet could kick chests and faces. It's when Asuga got punched hard in the face, unable to block a swing, that both tapped into their rage and beat the men with renewed vigour. Masaki's foot came from the pavement with a swing that could've broken a man's neck, but it was aimed between the legs. The thug that received the sharp white-hot knifing pain, thought his balls had been knocked clean off and instantly vomited. But the Amamiya brother that had delivered it, was already gone, attacking his next victim. Hiroto was closest to Asuga and caught her as the punch made her dizzy and see black spots.
"You need to stay behind us, until you're steady again. Put the van at your back," Hiroto warned.
They were slowly gaining the upper hand. The thugs were strewn all over the parking lot, groaning on the ground. Asuga didn't physically rejoin the fight, but called out warnings to the others, when a thug was trying to be devious and sneak in a hit or slash. But it wasn't enough to keep Noriko from getting thumped in the head by a pipe. Asuga ran forward and dragged Noriko to safety and out of the way of the Amamiya Brothers' fight radius. Hiroto not only broke the offender's nose, but the next punch had the force to kill the man. The blow itself didn't cause instant fatal artery damage, but the man suddenly couldn't breath, as if his brain told his body it wasn't getting oxygen. It could be compared to being hit over the head with a block of concrete. The rest of the thugs that could stand, ran for the cars, trying to drag or carry their fallen comrades.
"Asuga you drive, let's get back to the house. Follow me, I'll ride your bike and Hiroto will ride behind, to ensure no one follows." Masaki said, right before Hiroto's Harley roared to life.
They weren't followed and that made the brothers uncomfortable. It meant that the thugs might already know which house the snitches were being guarded at. On arrival inside the garage, Saigo was waiting. Masaki informed him of what had happened, as Hiroto walked past carrying the unconscious Noriko. Asuga still had yet to recover fully herself, but she stayed with her boyfriend.
"We've got some firearms here. If need be I'll authorize you and your brother to use them," Saigo explained.
"No. We might know how to take one apart and defend against guns in close range, but neither of us know how to use one effectively. We'd be terrible at shooting and would just waste bullets."
Asuga spoke up, "I know how to use one and I've got accuracy if I'm not needing to hit a fast moving target."
"WHAT!" Masaki exclaimed in surprise. "Noriko never said you twins could shoot."
"She doesn't know that I learned how to."
Saigo said, "that's good, we'll give you bullets and a gun, but keep the safety on until it becomes a dire situation."
Masaki wasn't sure if he approved and now he had no say anyway. He got the bags of groceries and decided to put them away for Noriko. His silence bothered Asuga, especially since he said nothing when he gave her some ice for her face.
"Are you mad about the gun? Or that I've never said anything about it?"
"It doesn't matter what I think right now, you've been assigned to one. My older brother Takeru died from a gun. He thought he knew how to effectively use it, but he was a fool. All guns have ever done, is take away people too fast. That vest you're wearing, won't protect you from being shot in the head." Masaki left the kitchen.
Asuga didn't follow him, choosing to let him have space. Instead she went to talk to her sister and found Hiroto sitting on the bed. "Can you go talk to Masaki, he's pissed at me because I can use a gun and Saigo will give me one, should the need arise."
Hiroto glared at her, he wasn't impressed either. "Guns solve nothing. The kill, they don't protect."
Noriko groaned and tried to sit up in the bed. "I'm useless in a fight, I keep loosing."
"Are you feeling okay?" Hiroto asked with concern. "You two did great."
"Bad headache, but I'm okay." She looked at Asuga, "I knew about the gun and that you took lessons on how to use it."
"Why didn't you say anything?"
"Wouldn't have mattered. Dad was the one who gave it to you, after all."
Asuga sighed. "I wish Masaki was as understanding as you're being."
"I'm glad he's not. It's a stupid idea to get into a gun fight. The enemy are a bunch of thugs, they know how to use guns and don't care about the consequences."
"Nori, are you lecturing me?" Asuga became defensive.
"No. I've got nothing else to say to you. Hiroto can you help me to the kitchen?"
"Why?"
"I need to start dinner," Noriko said, but the hand she put on his arm gave a squeeze. He understood then, that she needed to be away from her sister, before she said something that would be regretted later.
Hiroto put his arm around her waist and she put hers over his shoulder, for support. Together they left Asuga in the room. When they were alone in the kitchen, Noriko turned into his arms. "Just hold me for a little bit."
"You're worried about her."
"I can't protect her if she uses a gun. Even a knife would be better. Why do cops always think guns solve every dispute?"
He didn't have an answer, instead gave her a kiss. She drew strength from him and gathered herself. He said, " I should find Masaki. Will you be fine in here by yourself?"
"Yeah…. Hiroto… I love you."
He smiled a her. "I love you too."