Tokyo Revenger: Empresses of Japan
Chapter 2: Justice
"Mikey, why did you call us here today? I doubt it's to eat some food."
Draken and Takashi sat opposite their leader in a restaurant. Mikey was enjoying some Omurice, Draken and Takashi were eating their ice cream sundaes.
"The Omurice here is to die for!" Mikey sang whilst eating. "And they actually put a flag on it!"
"I knew it." Takashi huffing.
Mikey opened his jacket and fished out an envelope. inside. He placed it on the table, pushing it towards his friends. The letter was addressed to Tokyo Manji Gang and the two boys shared a confused look. The blond leader's face turned serious and swallowed some rice. They both knew it was something serious when there was no smile on Mikey's face whilst enjoying food.
"It was left on my doorstep this morning, so someone knows where I live." Draken's eyebrows furrowed together in worry and Mitsuya's eyes widened.
"Not even our members know where you live! What gives?"
"What's inside is more worrying." The leader mumbled.
The blonde-haired vice-commander carefully opened the envelope and read the contents of the letter aloud;
Dearest Tokyo Manji Gang,
You're probably wondering how we know where your leader lives. Rest assured, none of our members have been following him. So, he and his family are safe. We are a gang that you may or may not know. We act in the shadows and do not fight for honour or respect but rather for the safety for those who cannot defend themselves.
Jun Okada, Masao Ota, Hisoka Okada, Ryota Nakano and Yoichi Kimura
We request to meet Toman tonight at 7PM outside your base of operations, Musashi Shrine, where we will propose a deal; you will receive the 5 members mentioned above and we will have our justice. Bring every member in your gang to this meeting tonight so that they will witness our true might.
If you are not at the proposed meeting place at the proposed time, you will never have this opportunity again. If any of your members try to threaten or even touch us, the blood of those members will be on your hands.
We are Kogo
Japan's Strongest Long May We Reign
"How do we know this isn't some prank?" Takashi asked suspiciously. "How do we even know that this gang even have them?"
"Wait…" Draken shook the letter onto the table and out fell 5 rings, the rings which belonged to those 5 members of Toman as well as a pink bell-shaped flower. His eyes widened at this and Takashi Mitsuya looked both confused and angry. "They're actually serious. "Do you want us to contact everyone, Mikey?"
"We need to get those 5 back, no matter what." Mikey stated with a serious look on his face. "Let every member know, that we are meeting with this gang tonight, that we will be getting Jun, Masao, Hisoka, Ryota and Yoichi back."
Takashi Mitsuya picked up the flower from the table and held it up, instantly recognising it as Foxgloves. He remembered reading about it in Biology when they were studying…His tired lavender eyes widened with realisation as he stood up from his seat in panic. Mikey and Draken turned to him as showed them the flower; "They're in danger!"
17th December: Musashi Shrine
The sun had already set and all the members of Toman were gathered at Musashi Shrine, awaiting for Kogo to arrive. Many of those members were murmuring amongst themselves; about who Kogo was, what had happened to their brothers and others talking about revenge. At the top of the steps, stood Mikey, accompanied by Draken and to his right Baji Keisuke and Chifuyu Matsuno and to their Commander's left was Takashi and Pah-chin and Peh-yan. Between Baji and Draken stood a curious Emma who wanted to see who Kogo was.
"Mikey, am I going to be smashing some heads in today?" Baji asked.
"No Baji, there won't be any conflict today." Their Commander answered and they all heard a sigh of relief. Draken couldn't help but smirk smugly at this.
"Oh? Baji's happy there won't be any fights today? What gives?" The dark-haired boy just rolled his eyes back whilst huffing.
"It's nothing! I just need to get back to revise for some stupid test." Baji laughed dryly.
"Baji-san has a date tonight." Chifuyu announced so formally with a cheeky grimace on his face.
"Chifuyu, you traitor!" He yelled with a sudden blush appearing on his pale cheeks.
"Oiiii Baji!" Draken wrapped an arm around his shoulder with a big grin.
"Look he's blushing!" Takashi laughed and the young boy just gritted his teeth whilst averting his eyes.
"It's just fucking cold, okay!" Baji argued and the founding members chuckled amongst themselves knowing that it was a blatant lie. The Commander of the Attack Unit couldn't help but get flustered at this. He tried to hide the fact that he was dating his childhood friend for too long, but eventually Draken found out via a friend in common and announced it 3 weeks ago at the last Meeting as if it was important news. Since then, he had been subject to teasing from the others. "Chifuyu, you are not getting any Peyang Yakisoba for a month, you snake!"
Suddenly all the murmuring and conversation came to a stop when they heard the sound of motorbike engines approaching. They all turned to the source of the sound and saw the arrival of Kogo. Their arrival made some member seethe with anger and hatred, others were filled with fear and anxiety as the members of the opposing gang looked to be shrouded with mystery. There was nothing to be expected from them, and that was what made some members feel anxious.
Kogo's members arrived on motorbikes and almost all wore black balaclava masks, masks which covered the head save from the eyes and mouth. 5 members who appeared to be leaders, wore black helmets with their faces concealed. They all wore dark purple haori that ended at the knees and looked like thick cotton which worked well for the cold weather. The members had personalised stitching made on the shoulder of their haori; feathers, moon and stars, webs, seashells, wave designs etc and some were carrying flags. The 5 leaders had embroidery designs of flowers at the shoulder; pink peonies, white camelias, golden sunflowers, red roses and blue forget-me-nots. But they all had golden stitched kanji writing at the back which read;
Empresses of Japan
Japan's strongest; long may we reign
And between those lines was the gang's symbol; a large crown stitched of golden thread and 2 hands holding them up, decorated with iridescent rhinestones which changed colours every time they moved. Although this was an opposing gang, Mitsuya couldn't help but internally praise the design and idea of the haori they wore; it looked like they were crafted specifically for the gang, not ones which were bought and stitched on, but haori which were designed to be worn for their owners.
Kogo had 75 members with them today, and those main leaders led them up the stairs, with Toman making space for them. Each leader had a member behind them, who dragged 5 of the missing members of Toman, who's heads were covered with black fabric bags, their arms and hands wrapped by a sturdy rope which the Kogo members held onto.
They all stood still when the 5 leaders of Kogo stood before Baji, Draken, Mikey, Mitsuya and Pah-chin. The silence which grew felt painful, almost suffocating to say the least, save from the calming trees blowing from the winter winds.
The 4 founding members all glared at the leaders with distrust and hatred for what they had done, however Mikey just looked calm and composed, as expected from the leader of Toman.
"Good afternoon, members of Kogo." He broke the silence.
"Good evening, members of Toman." The leader in the middle replied, their voice slightly muffled from the helmet.
It was apparent the voice belonged to a girl which made a few other members of Toman murmured amongst each other. Some questioning the seriousness of the situation seeing as one member was a girl, whilst others thought that this was a joke.
"Where are they?" Draken hissed.
The 5 missing members' ropes were cut and they were pushed to the floor as they cried and muffled on their knees; two were shivering, the others moving around uncontrollably and abnormally.
"Bastards, what did you do them?!" Pah-chin yelled.
"Do you by any chance, still have the flower I have given you?" The girl asked.
"Yes, the Foxglove flower." Takashi held it up.
"Impressive you recognised it. You see the Foxglove is not well known. It is a genus of Digitalis; a very beautiful flower to have in your garden. What no one knows about Foxgloves are that they contain a significant toxicity. Observe."
The bags from their heads was quickly taken off and fell to the ground. The sight filled Toman's founding members with horror, shock and disgust. The 5 missing members all had dilated eyes and looked completely pale, drooling and exhausted, as soon as the bag was taken off, they all started throwing up and their seizures.
"What…what did you do to them?!" Draken screamed. "Who are you monsters?"
The members of Kogo took off their masks, revealing that they were all girls aged 12 - 15. Toman members were all shocked, gasping and whispering amongst each other.
"They're all girls?"
"Gang members can't be girls."
"How dare those bitches do that to our brothers!"
One by one, the 5 Leaders of Kogo took off their bike helmets, the founding members of Toman and Chifuyu all gasped, with their eyes widening with shock. Each division announced their leader's name.
"Minami Tanaka, Flag Bearer, 2nd Division Leader!" The girl with pink peony stitching, was 14 years old and the tallest of Kogo standing at 5ft 7in. She was slim, with fair skin, a freckled nose and rosy cheeks, an oval shaped face with light blue wavy hair up to her lower back, which was tied in a high ponytail. Her eyes were jade green and had rounded eyebrows. she looked like she could be a model with her height and appearance as she had a small nose and high cheekbones. Minami was flexible with her fighting style as well as a hard hitter. The girl looked at Takashi awkwardly and averted her gaze shyly.
"Haneul Kim, Attack Unit, 1st Division Leader!" The one with white camelia stitching was a 14-year-old girl standing at 5ft 4in. She too was slim, with dark brown up to her mid back which was tied in a side braid, with fair skin, rosy cheeks and lips with high cheekbones. She had thin eyebrows and grey eyes. Haneul, wasn't Japanese and was in fact born and spent the first 4 years of her life in Seoul, Korea, many bullied her for it, but Kogo didn't care about where she was from but cared about the goodness of her heart. Her kicks was her forte, as she was skilled in Taekwondo. The brunette smirked at Baji with a little wink.
"Natsuki Yamato, Guard Unit, 3rd Division Leader!" Natsuki who had blue forget-me-nots was the youngest member of Kogo, but it didn't mean she was the weakest. The 12-year-old stood at 4ft 10in, with a round baby face. She had black shoulder length hair with choppy bangs, thick dark eyebrows and ice blue eyes with dark lashes, rosy chubby cheeks and lips. Although she was small in stature, the girl was the quickest fighter in their gang with a relentless fighting style. When she smiled at Chifuyu, her dimples appeared and the blonde couldn't help but blush at this.
"Tsurumi Sato, Vice Commander." Tsurumi had red roses on her haori. The 14-year-old was the second shortest at 5ft 2in. She had red hair, tied up in a messy bun with side swept gangs. Her skin was slightly darker from others, seeing as her father's side of the family was from Okinawa. She had seaweed green eyes, a small button nose, high cheekbones and a curvaceous figure. The Vice Commander, was the muscle of the gang, her strength paralleling that of their beloved Commander.
"Yuki Tsukino, Commander of Nihon no Kogo." All the members yelled from the top of their lungs. The brunette had her hair in low bun with her bangs left out. Yuki stared at the Commander of Toman with a serious look.
"Japan's Strongest!" The Leaders yelled.
"Long May We Reign." Kogo's members screamed in unison whilst getting on their knee and lowering their heads with utmost respect. When she raised her hand then lowered it, they all stood to their feet.
"Why did you do this to them, Yuki?" Mikey questioned with a low voice.
"I think you should be asking them that question." Tsurumi growled.
"What have they done?" Draken asked. "Give us a good reason."
All Yuki did was nod to a few members behind her. One handed her 5 thick folders, and she gave them to Mikey who shared them with his founding members. A few other members took out what looked to be black picture frames from their bags. Those pictures were of girls with the frames decorated with black ribbon. The brunette Leader turned to Toman with a change of expression. Her eyes stung with tears and she frowned.
"What you see today is not the full force of Kogo, but only half." She spoke loudly. Many members of Toman looked at each other with disbelief. "Prior to the 10th, we were 155 strong. These are the girls from Kogo who we lost. And their names were; Hotaru Amano, Kaori Bushida, Mayumi Kazumi, Reiko Nakano and Yuriko Shirai. On the evening of 10th, their bodies were found by the Police, with no suspects. They were assaulted, beaten, raped and strangled to death. Draken, you call us monsters," She turned to the head of the Toman with tears falling down her cheeks. "But those 5 are the real monsters."
This received an outroar from the members of Toman who angrily accused the Leader of lying. The Founding Members opened the folders and found pictures of the incident when it happened. Takashi took one look for just a few seconds just to close it and look away. Draken glared daggers at the members on the floor who were crying and begging to believe it wasn't true. Baji gritted his teeth together, with his fists shaking with anger and Pah Chin looked as if he was about to throw up.
"QUIET!" Draken yelled and his voice echoed through the Shrine. The members of Toman instantly stopped their protests and they all turned to their attention to their Leader.
Mikey stared at those pictures, his gaze darkened and the boy had a frown on his face; he looked completely disappointed.
"Mikey, we lost 5 sisters in the worst way possible. If someone had murdered a handful of your gang members you would go out with full vengeance. And we did." Haneul explained.
"You don't have to explain." The blonde stated. "What do you propose?"
"We injected them with poison from Foxgloves and they had already been staying in terrible conditions." Yuki began to explain. "I created the poison myself, and I knew that they were starved, sleep deprived and under fatal stress. The poison is most effective and lethal when the subject's blood pressure and heart is irregular."
"In just 4 more minutes they'll get to a point where nothing will save them. The poison would have become too powerful for anything to heal. Afterwards, it will take 1 week until they die." Tsurumi added.
"So, I've come to bargain with you." Yuki said. "Your first option is that we leave them to you, for them to die. That way they can spend their last week surrounded by their loved ones. We won't tell anyone what they did, so their honour will be intact."
"What's the next option?" Mikey asked curiously. "That doesn't sound like justice for your sisters."
"You next option." She took out a plastic box and opened up. She and the Founding Members of Kogo held up vials of green liquid. "These are antidotes which I created to counter the poison for Foxgloves. We will give them the antidote and they will live. However, one of our members has the originals of those pictures and is currently waiting outside the nearest police station. This will be reported to the police and they will go to jail and receive life imprisonment."
The Founding Members all knew which option would be best for them but they still looked at their Leader. He looked at the faces of those Toman members who committed the worst of crimes. "They will pay for their crimes. Give them the antidote."
"You need to make a promise." Haneul said. "Promise us that neither you or your member will come after us or tell the police what we did."
Mikey's dark eyes fell on Yuki, who had put on a strong face but was afraid inside; afraid of the act she had done. He sighed deeply and nodded.
"We promise."
Minami, Haneul, Yuki, Tsurumi and Natsuki grabbed the five by the necks, pulling them back and pouring the antidote into their mouths. The boys swallowed the substance and sighed with relief.
"They are free." Natsuki said. "The spirits of our girls are free. Finally, they've got their justice."