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[GRAVITY]

chapter thirteen: a simple spar

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Kazuya Yamaguchi.

He was Hikari's customer for almost a year now. The man always chose her table. Every time he'd stride in the gambling joint, he was always with two of his close rich friends, decked in nothing but designer brands, and would flash a charming smile like he owned the place. Black hair gelled to the side, thick frames, light grey eyes, a lean figure, and a slight dimple on his left cheek. On paper the description sounded like Hikari was describing a token otaku, but upon further inspection and in person, he was not. The traits worked in his favour, and there was never one day that she begrudgingly thought of him as handsome.

Hikari was envious of him. Maybe it was because he was probably around her age, or younger - and because of this it made her glaringly aware of the things she lacked in life. Kazuya would talk about spending time with his friends, travelling, eating at restaurants, shopping, and about his ventures as a college student. It was a world that she could never be part of…and she hated it. However, she could neer stop listening to his interesting stories. There was always something happening in his life, and she clung onto every entertaining word he'd say. She had come to terms that she both liked and disliked him.

"How has your week been?" Kazuya asked her.

"Not bad."

"Oh?"

"It's fine."

She wished Kazuya wouldn't pry into her life.

Hikari opted to listen to his useless chatter, but rarely would she slip her true thoughts and feelings to him - or any customer in fact. She felt sick how he wasted money. Although Hikari was now living comfortably, she could never dismiss the trying times in her youth when her brother would fish for rotten food scraps from garbage bins. Together, they'd feast on the scraps, sleeping on the streets, surrounded by cardboard make-shift walls. Ever since their parents had died, they had lived like that for a good three years until the Tachikawas helped out. And now Hikari did have money…yakuza money.

On the other hand, the man sitting across from her would not have had to lift a finger to survive. He wouldn't have experienced how to hustle, how to go through cold winters without heating, how uncomfortable it was trying to fall asleep with a rumbling stomach.

Kazuya hailed from a wealthy family, being the sole heir to the Yodobashi Camera franchise. She had seen his father's name in the newspapers many times. Kazuya was only there to tickle his gambling addiction, and to get a thrill from doing something illegal. Rich kids did that. Although she loved Mimi, Hikari also knew that Mimi did over-the-top things because she was bored and knew she could get away with things. Kazuya fell in the same category.

"All in."

He pushed his chips into the middle of the table. His opponent on the opposite side of the table gaped at him. Hikari held back a smirk.

The game ended soon after, with Kazuya's bluff being apparent when the cards were revealed to be duds. His opponent had been too scared to call him out, resulting in Kazuya winning. The opponent left the table with his shoulders sloped, feet dragging on the floor as he left Hikari's table. Easy clap, as Kazuya would say. Hikari did not understand the lingo, but when had she ever understood the normal terms and language of people her age. She was used to words such as aniki or yubitsume and GIO's unyielding obsession for animal names.

"At least you're smiling."

Kazuya remained on his stool, propping his head up with his right hand, elbow resting languidly on the table. "You hardly smile, Neko-chan."

Hikari sighed. "Can you not?"

Although she was known to be 'Leopard' in the organisation, to Kazuya she was a cat. He had nicknamed her when she refused to tell her name, and found that her phone background was a photo of a snow white kitten.

"There's no harm with a little teasing when you're my lucky charm." He took a drag from his cigarette, turning his head to exhale the smoke away from her. "I think you work too much. Whenever I'm here, you're always on shift."

"It's my job - of course I'll be working." She huffed, "We're all not privileged like you are-"

Hikari stopped mid sentence, eyes widening at how she had spoken to her customer. She was startled when the man began to laugh at her. His eyes were tearing up as he held onto his sides, trying to contain his ribs from slipping out of his skin.

"Good job. Please continue, Neko-chan. It's fun watching you act up," Kazuya said. "There's nothing wrong with a pinch of honesty. It spices things up, you know?"

Her cheeks felt warm as she tidied up the table. Eyes staying down as she proceeded to shuffle the cards. She waited for the embarrassment to leave, and to keep herself level-headed. Kazuya may have pushed her buttons for spitting out facts, but Hikari already knew about these thoughts. These thoughts had been troubling her for a while now. It was unlike her to get triggered over some brash remarks. She shouldn't be so worked up about it when her brother and Yamato had given her many outs already.

The yakuza was a part of her. Hikari could not leave the organisation when they were her family. If she were to leave, she would not be able to see the members as much. As much as Hikari wanted her own circle of friends, ditching her family for a new group was not something she was willing to do. There was no way she would sacrifice her family.

"He bothering you?"

Hikari finally brought her gaze back to normal level when Daisuke stepped in beside her. Daisuke did not care that he was referring to the person while said person was there.

Daisuke purposely did not address him because he wanted Kazuya away from her - like all the members did whenever any male outside of GIO was caught chatting to her one-on-one. The boys tended to play the over-protective card as bro's code…or because they had a knack for stirring shit up to get under her skin. However, this usually happened outside of hours, not when she was dealing cards.

She shook her head. "No. Kazuya's a regular."

"Yeah, Neko-chan and I go ways back."

Hikari grimaced. Kazuya had to add some input. The remark held nothing over Daisuke because Daisuke went more than 'ways back' with her. The fact that Daisuke had left his post at the front to intervene when her shift was not close to finishing was alerting her mind with red flags.

"Is something wrong?" she asked. "Dino?"

Daisuke nudged his head to one of the private rooms at the back. Before she could reply, Daisuke advanced towards the direction without another word.

Hikari hastily packed up her table and apologised, "Sorry, Kazuya. You might have to find another table. I gotta go."

"I get it. Some history there? Ex-lover?"

Hikari did not take the chance to let it sink what Kazuya said. If she did, she would feel irked about it - beside, she had to get to that room. She could not be playing games with him until she knew what exactly was going on.

"Yeah. I'll catch you next time."

Abandoning Kazuya at the table, Hikari rushed towards the private room. The urgency in Daisuke's posture alarmed her. Something was not right. Her brother? Yamato? Who was it this time? The wave of anxiety was escalating. As soon as she stepped inside, the door locked behind her.

Daisuke was already keying a code by the bookshelf. It opened ajar, and he held the secret passage door open for her to slip into the cobblestone hallway before him. Sensing their movement, wall lights automatically switched. Five metres away, there met a steel door. Hikari heaved it open, which led them to a private car park.

Hikari pinched the keys from Daisuke's pocket. She unlocked the doors to a black, inconspicuous Toyota sedan.

"What's going on?" She started the engine.

"I was meant to drive to the base."

Hikari repeated, "Why are we going to the base?"

Daisuke shrugged. "Tiger's instructions. Said he needs you for something and that it's urgent. He threatened to eat my kebab if we didn't get there in time."

"Wow, that is super urgent." Hikari rolled her eyes.

"My kebab is the priority here. It's being held hostage."

If the kebab line wasn't mentioned, she may have taken Daisuke seriously. She debated about going back to her table. Her finishing early would lose them business if she went back to the base for something as miniscule as Daisuke losing his dinner. Her brother and Daisuke had the tendency to over-exaggerate things from time to time.

Hikari dryly said, "Then let's go if your kebab is that important."

By the time they reached the underground car park in Odaiba, Daisuke was already asleep. Hikari pondered whether the situation was really urgent as he had described it to be. She debated about letting him sleep, but because her ex hadn't given her a hint of what was going on, she opened his door and slapped his arm. "Get up."

"Cruel. You're absolutely cruel," Daisuke groaned awake, rubbing his bicep.

She did not wait for him to rouse completely, striding into the base. An uneven, long line of shoes were sloppily placed by the door. There were more people in the base than usual. Counting the pairs of shoes, Hikari estimated there were about approximately eight members.

Jumpers and jackets were thrown on the sofas. If the kitchen was a mess, Hikari was going to hunt each individual and make them go back to their belongings to fold their clothing properly and to line their shoes neatly by the door. This was everybody's space, and she loathed it whenever the boys made it untidy.

"YES! KICK HIM!"

"GET IT, GIRL!"

Whistles and howls clamoured from deeper inside the base. Yes, there were many members present - and it appeared they were hoarding around the gym. As she headed towards the location, Hikari felt Daisuke join as he walked behind her.

Moth, Rottweiler, Ant, Pinscher, Bison, Stingray and even old man Cobra circled outside of the gym window. Aside from Cobra, who surveyed most of GIO, most of the East Division were present, spectating the commotion happening inside the gymnasium.

"What's going on?" She asked, but nobody paid attention.

Pathetic…

It took her a couple of coughs to get Ant to move aside, so she can squeeze amongst the men, peering inside the room from the hallway window.

Her brother was there. He was grinning widely as his feet danced on the padded floor, dodging as a beautiful redhead delivered a punch to where his face had been. Hikari couldn't pinpoint the last time Taichi was excited sparring. Growing up, Taichi had been her sparring partner when GIO had trained them. She always hated the sessions, but her brother excelled in them. He loved to flash an annoyingly mischievous, shit-eating face whenever he'd pummelled her to the ground. Right then he wore the same shit-eating space while sparring with the stranger.

Hikari didn't have to speculate who the stranger was. Everybody had been talking about Sora - the new source to the hype and gossip amongst the East Division men. Hikari did not hang out with many females, but she knew males had a knack for spreading gossip too - especially when you had her brother and Dino in the division.

Lo and behold, the source to everybody's talk.

Because of Sora's appearance, she now understood why the members had taken a liking to her. Sora's form was on point, her hair half tied up, clad in tight leggings and a crop top that made her abs visible. Her eyes mirrored Hikari's brother's wild eyes as she lured him into the corner of the room. Sora's fist swooped in, just as Taichi barely missed her attack again. Of course the members were openly salivating over her. In addition to her looks, the latest member knew how to put up a good fight.

Taichi held out an arm to Sora to stop. As the woman backed away huffing, Taichi angled his head towards the spectators. He directed his attention to Hikari amongst the men, beckoning her with his gloved hand.

"Leopard, it's your turn."

She inwardly groaned, knowing why her brother had gotten Daisuke to take her there.

It wasn't as if Hikari did not know how to fight - she just preferred not too.. Hikari can't remember the last time she had properly fought anybody. She never skipped on working out sessions, always maintaining her fitness…but for sparring? She was rusty and having the other members watch her was not going to help her situation. She already was a target to their constant jeering because, to everyone, she was their little sister. To eliminate them, she shut the gymnasium door and drew down the blinds.

"Come on, Leopard! Don't be mean - well, you're always mean. Don't be even meaner."

Hikari recognised Daisuke's voice, rolling her eyes. Daisuke's complaining was later followed with Rottweiler adding, "We want to watch, baby girl!"

"Go away!" Hikari barked and then she heard a series of groans and chuckles responding back to her.

Taichi protested, "But it's better with a crowd to cheer on."

She glared at him. The glare was deathly enough for Taichi to refrain from further entertaining his thoughts.

"Redhead has been doing well against me. She's held up for the past weeks of training. Good stamina, skilled at mixed martial arts. She will be resourceful if any of us get into a pickle and when the division requires extra man - or should I say - womanpower?" Taichi gave a run through, despite the person they were talking about being within the hearing range. "I just thought that for her last fight, it would be a good idea to have somebody of the same gender assess her because I might be slightly biassed."

Sora finally spoke up. "Is this really necessary?"

Hikari eyed Sora, and she eyed her back. The assessing had already begun. Hikari had been surveying her opponent ever since she had spotted her in the gym. No…that was a lie. She had obtained information from Ladybug when she heard word that members of the division were taking shifts at watching the woman. Ladybug had stated that she was not a threat - but was she? There was no harm at being overly cautious.

Sora had an influence over Yamato, her brother was fond of her, and to top it off she looked strong and was pretty. She was the centre of attention, and seemingly had won most of their division over. She could all be an act - perhaps that was why her brother had wanted to rope her in? As much as Taichi joked around a lot, there never ceased to be a plan up his sleeve. Was that why she was needed here? Was she going to make the last call before Sora was fully inducted into GIO?

"What do you think?" Taichi broke her thoughts.

Hikari replied, "I think you never gave me the option because you made me finish early, unprepared, to have a match."

"Get prepared then."

He threw her his boxing gloves. She caught them, slipping her fingers into the glove and made a face when she felt the moist sweat that was trapped inside them.

When Hikari got into position, Sora copied her movements. As noted before, Hikari could see that her form was good. Despite Taichi training her for the past weeks, it was noticeable that Sora had previous training at fighting. In fact, Sora's stance and movements reflected somebody she used to know. From how Sora had gone up against Taichi, Hikari knew to not let her guard down. Sora was not at a disadvantage here; she was. Hikari loathed fighting and only would spar when she had no choice but to. Even though they hadn't even started fighting, Hikari could sense that Sora enjoyed it.

Which was no surprise when Sora lurched forward.

As rusty as Hikari was, she reacted in time and blocked the first jab with her left arm. She tried to use the block to distract Sora, mustering power into her right hand to deliver a punch - which Sora instantly stopped. Hikari gritted her teeth, attempting to drive the first further in. Sora was strong.

Hikari snapped back, spacing herself away from Sora. She shuffled on her feet, hoping to recover some of her old techniques and fighting prowess.

Sora grazed her cheek.

Now, that was embarrassing. Hikari was beyond rusty. A commoner was evenly matched against her, and it woke up the competitive side in her. She could not lose to the new member. Hikari would not allow it, even though she knew that Sora was the better fighter. It wasn't even debatable by how far Sora bet her at skill. She wasn't going to win this.

The more they went at it, Hikari observed how Sora's moves were much more polished and clean compared to her style. Sora's attacks lacked the ruggedness and edge that Hikari was familiar with, only proving how different their upbringings were.

And that was how Hikari found her one weakness. Hikari ran into one of the punches, letting it hit her abdomen.

"Fuck!"

She fell onto the ground, curling her back and moaning as she clutched onto the source of impact. Through Hikari's half-closed eyes, she could view the concerned look on Sora's face as she approached her. When Sora bent down to inspect her condition, Hikari knew it was game over.

Hikari slammed a leg behind Sora's knees, causing her to lose her balance, gravitating forward. When Sora was on the ground, Hikari did not give her time to regain her composure, rolling her onto her side and digging her foot onto Sora's left shoulder to stop her from getting back up. Hikari squatted down, raising a fist right in front of Sora's face.

"Checkmate," Hikari said, gulping for air as a couple drops of perspiration ran down her cheek.

Taichi clapped. Hikari had almost forgotten he was there, watching their session. She was already embarrassed about how rusty she had become, but remembering that her brother was there to see how she had de-skilled was humiliating. She betted that Taichi would make her train again by how poorly she had performed that night.

Hikari felt Sora squirm underneath her, scowling up at her. Hikari took the hint, taking her foot off her defeated opponent. She did not care that she hadn't won fairly. Sora enjoyed fighting, but Hikari was more trained at surviving. That was where Hikari had gained experience since she had fought on the streets. Following a rule book would have not saved her ass when she was in the yakuza. This was a lesson that Sora would have to learn.

"I'm not going to apologise for cheating," Hikari stated, watching as Sora got back on her feet. "In an ideal situation, you;ve won. There's no denying that you're good. What you need to work on is adjusting to spontaneity in your attacks. Tiger can teach you more of it."

"Why can't you?"

Hikari had not expected that question. "I'm afraid I don't have as much spare time as him. Are you sick of him already?"

"Kinda."

"Hey!" Taichi exclaimed, folding his arms.

It was good to have another person bait her brother. Hikari was sick of being the target, and it was nice that (aside from Yamato), Sora was not afraid to badmouth him. Most of the other GIO members were scared to talk back against Taichi because of his position as second in command…so having Sora speak out against him was refreshing.

Taichi went off to leave them, dropping that he was going to get them some water while yapping about how they were both disrespecting him.

Before a smile flickered on Hikari's face, she cooled the expression down. The last thing she wanted to do was trust Sora easily. Sora may have proved herself to everybody, but that did not mean that she would accept her straight away. Sora had to earn her trust.

That didn't stop Hikari from holding out a hand and introducing herself.

"Leopard," she introduced herself. "You must be Firebird."

"I guess I am." Sora shrugged, shaking her hand. "I'm still getting used to it."

Hikari agreed, "Yes, it is a strange concept…but it is what it is. The higher ups are lenient since you get to keep your job. What is it that you do?"

"I sell flowers."

"Oh."

"What?"

"I don't know. I just never thought of it as an occupation. Isn't that simple to do?" Hikari did not know how to react, as she slowly descended to sit on the ground. She did not mind looking at flowers in nature, but the thought of receiving and giving chopped flowers was something she could not get her head around. She never saw the beauty of flowers as a priority because all Hikari's focus had been trying to make ends meet.

"Hmm…you'd be surprised how difficult it can be to manage," Sora commented, dropping down next to her. "What do you do then?"

"I deal cards," she replied.

Sora countered, "Isn't that simple to do?"

Unable to hold a straight face any longer, Hikari laughed.

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(a/n) just a different angle with this chapter. wanted to have a bit of hikari's side told, and some female bonding time with sora. bond-forming, as you will.

next chapter will possibly pick up (depending how the first scene writes itself). either way, thank you for sticking around and i hope you all have a good rest of the week :)

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Review Replies (to those who do not have an account/have not signed in):

Guest - thank you for dropping by and reading this story all at once! yamato's reason for joining will eventually get revealed - same goes for koushiro's involvement. yeah, i'm pretty excited to write when sora finds out about koushiro. haha. jyou does act quite older compared to the rest of the gang.

TinTin - thanks for reading :)

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