Taimanin Warriors
Chapter Three: The Interview
After leaving the gym, the trio made their way to the beef bowl restaurant, Yoshinoya, a block away from the gym he works at, and entered the restaurant, finding a good spot in a booth in the back where it was secluded enough for them to conduct their interview, Raiden sitting across from Asagi and Sakura, the older sister holding a folder.
"So, you want our interview here?" Asagi asked, looking about the interior.
"Well, I like to come here after a rough day at work." Raiden declared with a grin. "Plus, I wanted to thank you guys for helping me out with Kamoshida!"
"Ooooh, treating us, Isamu-kun~." Sakura said, returning the grin. "Well, I've certainly worked up an appatite from beating up that jerk!"
"Well, considering how you helped me, consider it on me!" Raiden declared before turning his head to the waiter approaching. "Hey, I'll have a grilled barbeque beef bowl please!"
"Ooh, I'll have the orange chicken bowl!" Sakura added.
"Well, can't do a proper interview on an empty stomach," Asagi admitted before turning to the waiter. "I'll have the teriyaki chicken bowl!"
After ordering and receiving their food, they decided to start the interview.
"Now, let's begin our interview." Asagi declared.
"Ask away." Raiden nodded, having eaten half of his beef bowl.
"So, Raiden Isamu," Asagi started, opening the folder and looked over the contents. "Currently seventeen years of age and lived with your mother for the longest time."
"Straight to the letter." Raiden nodded.
"Just you and your mom?" Sakura said with a frown. "What about your dad?"
"Never was one." Raiden shrugged before taking a sip of his drink. "My mom was single when she was pregnant and she's single to this day."
"So it was just you and your mother?" Asagi asked, earning a nod from the blonde. "Have you tried looking for your father?"
"Not until later, no." Raiden frowned. "For the longest time, I never gave a damn about a deadbeat that left me and mom. Hell, I don't even know why mom was so obsessed with him."
"Have you asked her about it?" Asaki asked.
"Many times, but it was vagueness on top of vagueness." Raiden scowled. "I love my mom, but no matter how many times I asked or pestered her, she never gave me a straight answer! And the only clue I have is this."
As he said that, Raiden pulled out his amulet, allowing the sisters to get a good look at it.
"It's so pretty~." Sakura said in awe.
"Such craftsmanship." Asagi remarked. "A memento from your father?"
"Yup." Raiden said casually, gazing at his amulet as he dangled it in his fist. "At first, I was tempted to just smash the damn thing, because like I said, I wanted nothing to do with that deadbeat, but it's the only clue I got."
"I see." Asagi said, relating to the blonde boy's personal issue. "Well, I certainly hope you find him."
"Yeah, same here." Raiden sighed, deciding to hold off on his request until after the interview.
"Well, moving forward a bit." Asagi cleared her throat as she moved on. "We looked up your file after the airport scuffle. Your school life was normal for the most part; barely passing, slacking off, but you shined the most in the mixed martial arts club."
"Yeah, I've always been frowned on by almost everyone at school, but I never let it bother me." Raiden shrugged. "The mixed martial arts club was pretty much the only place I felt I belonged somewhere."
"What changed?" Sakura asked, not liking where this was going.
"Then that rat bastard, Kamoshida, came along and made it his mission to ruin my life." Raiden growled. "He didn't like me and spread rumors about me and harassed and mocked me any chance he'd get."
"Why would he go out of his way to do that?" Asagi asked.
"Because I was the star of the fighting club." Raiden explained. "I busted my ass to get to where I was with the guys in the club, but Kamoshida was so jealous that he made it his mission to hurt me."
"So he went after you out of jealousy?" Sakura frowned. "And I thought he was a rotten bastard already!"
"He's always been a lousy bastard." Raiden said with a clenched fist. "He'd spread rumors about people and pit everyone against each other, take advantage of others for his own selfish gains."
"So how did you end up expelled?" Asagi asked. "If you don't mind me asking, of course."
"He didn't like how I was the star of the fighter club, so he suggested a wager." Raiden said. "If he won, he'd take over the club. But if I won, he was out. For good."
"It didn't end well, did it?" Sakura asked, knowing what's coming next.
"Well, it started off well at first." Raiden said. "I won the first round, since I've always spent my time training and practicing my fighting style, but he won the second round with cheap and sneaky tactics. The third round…he brought up my mom."
"Your mom?" Asagi repeated with curiosity.
"My mom's done so much for me." Raiden explained. "She tries so hard to make our living better, but she always tires herself out, so I joined the fighters club so I could get a scholarship to make things easier for her."
"Well, that's nice of you!" Sakura said with a smile.
"But back to the fight, Kamoshida brought up my mom, talking shit, calling her such damning shit and I just lost it." Raiden sighed. "I just punched him in the throat and started beating him down; took nearly half the guys in the club to break it up." He shooked his head. "After that, Kamoshida claimed I attacked him out of nowhere, and the club was shut down."
"What?!" Sakura gasped in shock. "How the hell did that happen?!"
"Kamoshida's the only son of a has-been Olympic athlete that won gold medals." Raiden scoffed. "The teachers and principal have always pandered and coddled him and everyone was afraid of speaking out because they'd get silenced."
"That's horrible!" Sakura said in shock.
"After he got the club shutdown, he kept spreading rumors about me." Raiden said with a shaky fist clenched around his cup. "Even when I confronted him, he just laughed and said no one would care, and then…"
He stopped midway, his fist clenching around his glass so tight that the cup started to crack, before Asagi finished, "Then he brought up your mother again."
As soon as she said that, Raiden's cup shattered with a tight squeeze of his fist, glass shards and water spilling on the table.
"He did." Raiden slowly nodded. "And I attacked him; I just wanted him to shut up, to stop his rumor spreading…and that got me expelled."
"Your mother must've had it pretty bad with the aftermath as well." Sakura said.
"She did." Raiden nodded again. "I'll never forget the look on her face, and how she just sat there quiet through it all as they grilled her about me. On the way home, she apologized to me. For being a single mother and all."
He then chuckled sadly, his eyes starting to water up, "Guess I'm a shitty son, huh? With a bad temper and a fuck ton of baggage."
Asagi and Sakura looked from one to the other, clearly taking it all in, before looking back to the blonde boy again.
"I'm sorry about what happened." Asagi said, before taking a serious tone. "I assure you, given the chance, we will see to it that Taro Kamoshida faces justice for what he's done!"
"And I'll give him another beating for good measure!" Sakura declared, raising a fist.
"You'd seriously do that?" Raiden looked up before wiping the tears from his eyes. "I mean, we only just met and all-"
"I don't care!" Sakura declared. "I can't stand bullies who prey on the weak! Those guys need to go down hard!"
Raiden was surprised at how enthusiastic Sakura was about this, and how Asagi took this so seriously. He felt so relieved to finally have someone who was willing to hear him out, to vent to and willing to help him out. He felt the urge to cry, but held it in.
"Forgive me, but we really must move on." Asagi said before clearing her throat. "So, we'd like to ask about your powers. Back at the airport, you displayed incredible strength and durability, as well as speed and electrical powers. Not to mention a powerful healing factor. How did this come to be?"
"Well, after I got expelled, I was walking home one night," Raiden explained. "I turned a corner and saw the hospital on fire. Without thinking, I ran in to help as many people as I could. While on a higher floor, I came face to face with one of those creatures."
"Like the Behemoth?" Sakura asked.
"No, this one was smaller; at least human sized, and had a lanky figure." Raiden said. "Anyways, the monster fired some sort of lightning attack at me, and I was so scared and shocked, I couldn't move. The attack hit, but I didn't feel any pain. And when I looked at my hands, they were crackling with electricity."
Holding his hands up, but not too high for the whole restaurant to see, and his hands sparked with electricity.
"Incredible." Asagi remarked in silent awe.
"That's so cool!" Sakura said with awe.
"Anyways, I fired my own electric blast at the demon, and it almost sent me on my ass." Raiden chuckled. "But my blast hit and the demon turned to ash. After that incident," He held up the amulet again. "I became more determined than ever to find my dad."
"And since then, you've been going out at night as the Thunder Raider?" Asagi asked.
"Yup." Raiden nodded. "Guess I've grown to like the adrenaline of going out at night, playing Dark Knight. Still, I mostly did it to find info about my dad."
Thinking for a moment, Asagi went over what she gathered in her head; from what she's gathered, Raiden was once a star of an martial arts club at school but was expelled after that Kamoshida character antagonized him to strike out, and is now working at a gym in town to make due. He also has amazing speed and strength, not to mention durability and a fast-acting healing factor, along with his affinity to electricity. However, he does come off rather blunt and vulgar, not to mention having a short temper, which comes with a lot of baggage.
Still, despite his flaws, Asagi figured that he'd be worth recruiting, especially if the issues the blonde has can be resolved with the right course of actions.
Closing her folder, Asagi rose from her seat, "Thank you for your time, Isamu-kun. In three days, we'll let you know if you're officially recruited."
"Wait, that's it?" Raiden raised a brow. "No exercise tests, no sparring sessions?"
"That's saved for after you're recruited." Asagi declared.
"So, that's it?" Raiden inquired. "How will I know if I've been accepted or not?"
"You will soon." Asagi said before turning to her sister. "Time to go, Sakura."
"But I haven't even finished my chicken bowl yet!" Sakura whined, her bowl not even half empty.
"Then ask for a to-go bowl." Asagi said in a commanding tone and narrowed eyes. "We have more important things to do."
Asagi left, presumably to wait outside, as Sakura mumbled bitterly to herself before calling for a to-go bowl. Thinking for a bit, Raiden looked up at the younger sister.
"Hey, Sakura-san?" He spoke up, gaining the girl's attention. "Look, I want to apologize for touching you the other day. I swear, I never meant to touch you like that."
Thinking for a moment, Sakura smiled, "Ah, don't sweat it! Besides, we're already even!"
"Right." Raiden shivered a bit, feeling that sensation in between his legs again.
"But you know," She stood up, gesturing him to do the same. "If we were to hang out more and get to know each other better…"
She walked up to him, her breasts pressing against his chest and looking at him with a seductive look, "You could touch more of me all you want~."
Raiden was sweating heavily, heart beating a thousand miles a minute, before Sakura busted out laughing, "Relax, I was just teasing you!"
Raiden sighed as Sakura picked up her bowl, "But yeah, I wouldn't mind hanging out with you, once you're accepted!"
She then turned towards the door, then looked over her shoulder and winked at him, "See you later~!"
And with that, the sisters left, leaving Raiden to pay for the food, as he promised.
"Damn that balloon-titted bitch."
Kamoshida was laid up in a hospital bed, his whole body bandaged head to toe and casts over his limbs. After the pummeling he suffered at the hands of Sakura Igawa, Kamoshida was admitted to the hospital, and rather than admitting that he was beaten by someone smaller had beaten him to within an inch of his life, Taro lied and said he was jumped by a bunch of gangsters.
And since then, his resentful grudge festered and grew.
"And damn that Raiden Isamu!" He said bitterly, to no one in particular. "I swear, when I get out of this bed, I'm gonna make him wish he was never born!"
He was snapped out of his rant by the opening of the door to his hospital room, a hospital nurse carrying a medical tray with a rag over it.
But something seemed…off about this nurse. She wore the usual uniform, but the skirt was cut much higher up her thighs, that Taro could almost see a shot of her panties, and her blouse was sleeveless and it left a window for her cleavage.
"Taro Kamoshida." She said, making Taro jump a bit, as she set the tray on a table near the bed. "Son of the currently retired Olympic medalist, Ren Kamoshida, and right now, a dropout clinging to his daddy's legacy."
"What?!" Taro gasped before growling. "And who do you think you are?!"
"I'm glad you asked, Taro-kun." The nurse said as she removed the rag, revealing a strange vial…along with an injection needle. "But you know what they say; the best way to know someone is to walk a mile in their shoes."
Taro's face paled in horror as he watched her fill the syringe with the liquid in the vial, "H-Hey! What is that supposed to be?!"
With a sinister chuckle, Oboro turned and faced him, holding up the syringe and a wicked grin on her face.
"My shoes."
That was all she said as she approached, clamping her hand over Taro's mouth to keep him from screaming, the man's eyes wide with fear and his screams muffled as she started injecting him with the liquid.
Somewhere, deep within a lush green forest, a cloaked stranger walked through the greenery, a duffle bag swung over his shoulders, his destination seeming unclear. Coming to a stop in an opening, the stranger looked over to see a small patch of flowers nearby, holding his hands up and pressing his thumbs against his index fingers, as if framing the flowers with his fingers.
"Quite the lovely flowers with equally lovely weather today." He remarked aloud. "I wish I brought my sketchbook."
Letting his arms fall back to his sides, he made to move forward, only to stop when he heard rustling in the bushes. Standing still and heightening his senses, the stranger looked around before seeing several demonic hounds emerge from the bushes, all snarling with their blood-red eyes trained on him. Flexing his fingers a bit, the man wrapped his fingers around the handle of a katana strapped to his waist. After a few seconds, he flicked the sword upward, before the hellhounds leaped, aiming to sink their teeth into his flesh…
…grabbing the handle of his sword, the hooded man pulled his sword from the scabbard, swinging it with speed and grace, cutting into the hellhounds and freezing them in midair before slipping his sword back into its scabbard, the frozen hellhounds shattering to pieces as they fell to the ground.
"The demons are becoming bolder." The stranger sighed. "I must make for Gosha Village soon. Hopefully, Asagi-chan will remember me."
With that, he moved on, leaving the pieces of the hellhounds to melt in his wake.
And there's the new chapter! Raiden got through his interview, Oboro begins recruiting Taro, and we meet a new character! Not much to say, honestly, except thank you for reading this, I was honestly nervous no one would notice or care, but thankfully, this story has reached almost ten followers and favorites! Thank you guys for checking this out, it really means the world to me, and any helpful criticisms can greatly help me improve.
Anyways, that's all for now! Stay tuned for the next chapter! Reviews are greatly appreciated!