Tokyo's Demon Gorilla
The Streets Won't Forget
Chapter 6
"She's been in there a long time."
"No kidding," I replied, opening the door slightly and peeking into inside. I pulled away instantaneously as though I had stung, "Holy shit."
"Wei-kun!" Yuzu called, alarmed. I looked like I had just seen a ghost, skin paling and heavy breathing laboured and slow, "What's wrong? What'd you see?" She gently laid a hand on my upper back, suffusing me with some measure of comfort.
"Corpses," I answered, almost vomiting in my mouth.
Yuzu gasped, another hand flying to her mouth, horror written over her delicate features, "Oh no!" She turned a melancholy gaze to bantam's door, "What happened in there?"
"That's what I'd like to know," I breathed, slow and steady, my expression focused and weary. I expected to find those same dead bodies littered about the bar like someone's dirty laundry from the game but still, seeing corpses in a game didn't compare to coming across them in real life. Not even close. "Poor girl must be scared shitless somewhere in there."
"We have to get her out." Yuzu insisted, pumping her fists with firm resolve.
"I'm on it," I assured, peeking right and left, then pushing the door open slightly, "You keep a lookout. I'll go in and get her," I advised. Someone as sweet and innocent as Yuzu really didn't need to see a bunch of rotting corpses, so I made sure to spare her.
"Aye, aye, captain!" She chirped.
I grinned at her warmly, squeezing into the small gap I created in the doorway to restrict her view of the twenty+ rated place of leisure, and my word, was it for her own good. It would've been understating things to say the joint was a mess. It resembled a site straight out of a horror show; the floors, walls, and ceiling all coated a medium crimson red. The bartender's dead body was draped across the bloodied bar as though he were taking an eternal nap. Other corpses I didn't recognize all suited up remained littered all across the floor, laying lifeless in pools of their own fluids.
I wanted to vomit immediately, but I managed to repress the urge. Haruka had a stomach of steel to remain huddled up in the corner in this dead zone. I would've taken one glance inside and fucked right off, I can't lie.
"Mushi-mushi," I whispered, as though I were afraid of frightening the mice, "…Hey, little one. Where're you?"
A head of jet-black hair poked itself out behind that small corner off to the right of the bar Yumi's daughter was cowering behind, "Who's there?" She asked, visibly alarmed.
A sigh of coherent relief washed through me, "It's okay. I'm friendly," I assured, shooting her a smile I hoped was warm.
"Friendly?" She wandered, cocking her head aside.
"Yeah," I murmured, gesturing her over, "Why don't'cha come on over so we can get out of here? This is no place for children."
"Oh, okay," Haruka said, crawling out of her hiding place in her usual white zipped hoody, short red skirt and black shoes from Kiwami 1, still holding the same gun Kiryu snatched away from her, and I did the same, flashing to her instantly and prying it from her grip. She flinched.
"This ain't a thing a kid should have either," I sternly told her, stashing it away in my bag, "C'mon. Let's get you outta here." I crouched down, wrapping an arm around the back of her skinny legs and placing the other one on her back to balance her, lifting her up. Considering the spooky environment we were in, she was more than relieved to accept the ride; tying her little arms around my shoulders and pressing her head against my upper arm, eyes firmly held shut.
I was with her there, pirouetting and blazing to the door in one quick step, nudging it open with my shoulder, "Phew." I breathed in relief being out of that stink zone. Bemusement held a party on my countenance when I found Yuzu running back to me; worry holding another house party on hers, "Huh?"
"Wei-kun!" She said, pointing to the direction she came from. The pieces fell into place at once. "Come quick!"
"What's wrong, Yuzu?" I asked, jogging lightly alongside her, "What's happening!?" The sounds of me conversing with my wifey encouraged Haruka to lift up her head, looking puzzled to see us already out of the murder scene.
"Trouble!"
That's all she needed to say. Not like she had time to go into detail of the trouble she found given it was just right there. My eyes turned as red as the bar I just came out of catching the tail end of a pebble being pelleted against the forehead of a Shibu chu.
"Ooh! Good shit, bro!" Some dirty scumbag hollered to his bredren, flanked by two other dickheads all dressed similarly, hooded jackets underneath armless body warmers, woolly hats, jeans, and sneakers, all embellished by their dyed blond hairs; the standard delinquency look.
That same small puppy Kiryu rescued from the original Yakuza and the remake whimpered frightfully, curled in on himself against his assailants' merciless assaults.
"My turn now," Douchebag 3 snickered, wearing an evil smirk.
"Leave the dog alone!" I bellowed, startling Haruka who cowered against my shoulder under the sheer volume of my enraged voice. I stroked her hair apologetically, intense glare never leaving the four assholes.
"Huh?" They uttered, turning to me with annoyed expressions, "And what the fuck are you gonna do about it if we don't, kid? Take your little sister and get outta here, bitch."
I crouched down, gently placing Haruka down on her feet. Her worried expression said it all. She didn't believe in me but that was understandable. She didn't know me. I shot her a warm, reassuring smile, briefly ruffling her hair. I stood, my bright exterior darkening like the shadow realm as I turned back to my targets. My surly expression must've clicked something in their heads because recognition cleared the confusion over their faces like a cloudy day.
"Wait, hold up! This little shit's Sun Wei!" One declared.
"Seriously?!" His buddy questioned incredulously, "You mean that kid everyone's calling the Demon Gorilla or some shit?!"
"Yeah, that's the one! Pretty sure I heard he was in Middle School."
"If you know who I am, then you know not to fuck with me," I quipped in dark nonchalance. Their expressions boiled in hotly annoyance at the implications that they should be afraid of me based on word of mouth.
"We're not scared of you, fucktard!"
"Hell yeah! As if some little shit like you is really as strong as everyone says."
I stepped decisively forward, a single action speaking far louder than words.
"Damn it! So, you wanna try us, huh?" They readied their fists, adjusting their brawler stances. "You're gonna regret it!" One swung on me and I easily diverted it with a single finger, turning a vicious overarching haymaker into his skull. The sheer kinetic force carried him ferociously against the wall of a building opposite to the street Bantam was on. The rest of them shuddered, but I gave them no chance to truly let them realize the gravity of their mistake picking the fight with Kamurocho's Invincible Demon Gorilla, savagely pummelling another. Two devastating fists on either side of his cheeks bloodied them thoroughly and a nasty haymaker sent him plummeting on his head, smashing him off the ground where I dragged him up by his foot and hammered him back into the ground with immense fury.
The last two briefly recoiled, sharing looks of desperate understanding before rushing me at once, "Gah!" I caught both of their fists in my palms, fiercely turning my elbow into one's face, slamming him down. I hammered my foot off the other's knee, bringing him down and going to town on his face like Luffy on Rob Lucci.
Every fist smashing against his forehead turned the lights in his head on and off, consciousness leaving him and agony bringing it back just as fast. Good. Dipshit needed to suffer, and I made damned sure he did, battering his sorry behind until he was nothing but a bloody, swollen mess; eyes blackened shut.
Only then did I toss his bitch-ass aside.
"Wastemans," I jeered in absolute disgust.
"Oh wow," I heard Haruka murmur a safe distance away by Yuzu, "He's so strong."
"Right?" Yuzu chirped, averting Haruka's gaze to her, "Wei-kun's super strong!"
"Wei-kun?" Haruka tipped her head, "His name's Wei-kun?"
"That's just what I call him," Yuzu clarified with a sheepish smile, "He's just Wei."
"Oh, I see."
"And I'm Yuzu, by the way," Yuzu beamed down at her, hands on her knees, "What's your name?"
"Oh, it's Haruka."
"It's nice to meet you, Haruka-chan."
"Hehe. You too, Yuzu-neechan."
"Neechan!"
Yuzu and Haruka interacting; suddenly, everything made sense again. Granted, there would've been no conceivable way the two could've met if it weren't for me bringing Yuzu over to the Yakuza side of this strange crossover world, but still! It still felt way more right than Yuzu linking up with Kaito. That was like oil and water, while this was peanut butter and jelly.
My warm smile left the sight of my favourite girls chatting it up and arrived down at the previously bullied puppy, relaxing slightly now that its tormentors were dealt with, "There, there, it's okay now," I soothed, ambling over to the puppy. Judging by the colour of its fur, it was a Shiba chu, which reminded me of Amasawa Kyoko's awesome detective puppy from Lost Judgement. If conditions were met in game, the player could trigger a heat action that involved Kyoko's beloved dog, Ranpo, running to Yagami's aid and viciously biting the motherfucker that stunned him.
Loyal dog, that one.
The little puppy relaxed against my touch when I kneeled down to affectionately caress his ears, whimpering slightly.
"Is the puppy okay now, Wei-niichan?" Haruka's soft-spoken voice floated overhead and I peered up to see her and Yuzu approaching me.
"He should be okay," I smiled at her with warmth, chuckling a bit when the puppy's stomach growled, "Once we get some food in him."
"Oh!" The pre-schooler perked up, "Right. He looks hungry."
"Yep," I clarified, scooping him up, "So, let's go feed the little guy."
"HAI!" The girls chirped in unison. My smile brightened like with the radiance of sunny spring day, but before I could fell in stride with the girls Haruka swaying in place with her arms behind her back stopped me in my tracks, "Um, oniichan? Can I hold the puppy?"
"Of course, you can." I smiled down at her, enveloping her in my fond affection. She beamed, looking giddily as I kneeled down and passed her the Shiba Chu I had just saved.
"Aw," My girlfriend cooed at the sight of our little friend cuddling the tiny puppy in her arms like a newly made mama holding her newborn. I chuckled in amusement and pointed to the nearest Poppo's, the one that got ultimately removed with the introduction of the Dragon Engine. It wasn't there in Yakuza Kiwami 2, but it was in the remasters of 3, 4 and 5.
Just a classic case of Kamurocho inconsistency.
Haruka beamed at us with the most precious – needed to protect – smile ever.
"So, Haruka-chan?" Yuzu asked, confidently looping a hand around my arm as we began to traverse toward Poppo. Amazing what having a little girl around us done for her confidence. She couldn't afford look uncool in front of her junior, "Why were you in such a scary place?" A kind smile formed on her dazzling face.
"I was looking for my Mom." Ah, there it is.
Yuzu blinked, "Your Mom?" Haruka nodded. "What happened?"
The eight-year-old shook her head, "I don't know. My aunt Yumi left me at an orphanage and left me with this pendant." She dug the safe chain/key Yumi left her hidden beneath her hoody, securely around her neck, "That's all I have of her. I really wanted to find clues about her, but when I got there…"
"Oh, Haruka-chan…"
"Well, let's put that aside for one moment and focus on the task at hand; mainly feeding this little guy," I suggested, winking, as I checked the time on my flip phone. Nearly 6:30, letting me how long we had spent in the arcade winning her plushie and taking photos. The sky was beginning to show signs of a faint tangerine sheen. "Then we can see what we can do about your mama."
"Oh, right!" Yuzu's expression brightened, "Wei-kun basically grew up in Kamurocho!" Yuzu was a smart girl, scoring in the 90s in our midterm tests, so no surprise she caught on quickly, "If anyone knows the best spots for information about your Mom, it's him!"
Haruka turned wide, hopeful eyes up at me and it damn-near broke my heart. Here was a little girl longing for the warmth of her mother, just like any other child. Haruka may have been mature beyond her tender years, but she was still an eight-year-old little girl, "Really?"
My eyes softened, "Of course." I waved a hand around us to illustrate a point, "This place is like my backyard. Need any clues about your Mom? I'm your guy."
She withdrew her gaze and dropped it to the dog in her arms, "Thank you, Wei-niichan." She murmured.
"Anytime." I glanced at Yuzu hanging off me, turning a curious brow up at her prideful, doting mother smile, "What?"
"Oh, nothing!~" She denied innocently and pressed her head against my shoulder in a loving motion. I wished Haruka could hang with us all the time. Confident Yuzu was something I could get used to, no doubt.
My smile returned as I led way to the Poppo store on Nakamichi alley underneath the increasing dusk-lit sky. I wandered what would happen to it when we ventured into the Kiwami two timeline. Would it just shut down to line up with its disappearance in the game? Or maybe it would outlast the remaster trilogy, then close down by the time Yakuza 6 rolled around?
I could see why the devs abandoned it. Not including this one, there were already four Poppo stores in Kamurocho. With so much competition around, it was entirely likely that one would be forced to shut down due to a lack of income.
Well, whatever. I would just leave that for future me to discover.
I ventured inside Nakamichi's Poppo, picking up a can of dog food and a carton of milk. I also retrieved a bottle of green tea and a carton of juice on Yuzu and Haruka's requests respectively upon being prompted, buying myself a bottle of grape-flavoured Bigga. I was surprised Japan even had Bigga in all flavours, but I never once complained.
I ambled out of the store, handing Yuzu her tea, "Here ya go, wifey!~" I beamed, all lovey-dovey silly-like with blushing cheeks of goofy elation.
"Thank you, Wei-kun!~" She said in dreamy gratitude.
"You're welcome," I smiled with sincerity, looking down at Haruka watching our honest display of affection with curiosity, "I'll give you your stuff when your hands are free, Haruka-chan."
A nod, "Okay."
"Let's," I was about to say roll, but a group of generic street thugs gesticulating threateningly toward me abruptly changed my declaration like a car skidding into the exit of the M6, "…sit back and watch me take out the trash." I handed the plastic bag over to Yuzu, "Hold that for me, would ya, babe?"
"Okay."
"What was that, bitch?" The overweight thug of the four demanded, jumping at me with a double axe blow and right to the nasty flying kick I catapulted in his chubby face first; Forest Law-style. He flew like a cannonball, straight past Nakamichi street, then the park before crashing beside the other Poppo on Tenkaichi street.
Another rushed me like a desperate Saiyan, "Damn it!" I swung on him on instinct, belting him with an unrelenting barrage of powerful spin kicks against his head, pirouetting on the spot each time. One of his buddies tried hitting me from behind, but I sensed his approach and nailed him in the gut with a backward kick without looking, bending him over. He was set up perfectly for my next attack; a reverse kick driven into his head. I backflipped, driving my foot on top of his head with crushing force.
I blitzed back to the other guy I had been beating on until his buddy interrupted, viciously turning his face either side with hammering blows audibly thudding off of his cheeks, sweeping him off of his feet and high in the air with a front flip. I tensed, bending my knees and tucking my arms inward as I channelled my Chi, golden orange heat energy swirling around my body in whirlpools. An inch perfect dragon's fist struck the falling delinquent's spine the moment he fell within range of my extended arm and the force of Forest Law's signature technique from Tekken 3 catapulted him to the opposite street to where his bredren laid.
I breathed in relaxation and turned toward the last guy, who had already dropped to all fours and emptied out his wallet by the time I had impeccably dealt with two of his friends, "I'm really sorry, Demon Gorilla-sama!"
I accepted his measly offering of a 1k yen note and a bunch of coins. Hey, my wifey couldn't complain if thugs were already giving me their money. This was just how things rolled in Kamurocho. You lose, you surrender everything you had on you. That was how it worked in the games, with money mysteriously appearing before the player, and that was how it worked here, with thugs emptying their pockets and giving all their cash to their victorious opponent.
"Alright, fuck off, then," I dismissed as I pocketed my winning fee.
"Uh, right," He obliged submissively, "I'm really sorry!" He then took for the hills with his tails between his legs.
"These mans never learn…" I sighed. But that was the appeal of Kamurocho, sitting wannabes down and taking their cash.
"Wow," Haruka murmured gently, "You're really strong, Wei-niichan."
"Meh," I shrugged, "More like those fools were just weak. Guys like that only gang up on man in numbers because they know they wouldn't have the strength nor the balls to go mano a mano with man himself."
"Haruka-chan, don't listen to Wei-kun! He's just too humble for his own good," Yuzu quickly clarified with cutesy, film resolve.
Haruka giggled, "I think I see that."
I grinned, taking the bag back from Yuzu, "Yeah, yeah." The girls shared a wholesome laugh at my expense. "So, shall we continue onward?"
"Yes."
Me and the girls continued on our way to Japan's local department store camped out on the corner in between Nakamichi street; Don Quijote, another thing destined to be removed by the deities above with the introduction of the police station in Yakuza 7, I think. (Never did get around to playing Y7, since I vehemently hated the change to turn-based combat). I just know Don Quijote was around in Judgement and replaced with the police station in the sequel.
I was gonna miss the place, but I at least had another 13 years to enjoy it, so I was certainly gonna do that. I bought a double dog bowl and some tins of cat food for the local strays. I liked feeding the kitties. They reminded me of England in the sense that my former homeland also had street cats and house ones roaming the country at all times.
Unlike dogs, (lovable creatures that they were) whom boyish immaturity meant they could never be left to their own devices, a cat's solidarity and womanly maturity meant they could be left free to explore on their own. House cats could pop in and out their homes whenever they pleased without their owner's supervision.
Haruka sat the dog down beside the wall of Don Q and I laid out the bowl, pouring his milk and the tin of food in both sides. He wasted no time tucking in and the girls beamed in precious delight.
"He's eating," Yuzu remarked, smiling.
I was on red alert when Haruka stood up straight from her squatted position and began to sway like a drunkard maidan, "Hey, Haruka-chan." I laid a hand gently on her back, steadying her. With warm, cautious concern colouring my voice, I asked, "You okay?" I was still on a knee from feeding the unnamed puppy, so she was pretty much head-level with me.
"…Thank goodness." She mumbled sleepily before the fatigue shut her body down completely, resulting in her falling into my arm.
"Haruka-chan!" Yuzu and I exclaimed at the same time with equal worry.
I hurriedly scooped her up in my arms and Yuzu, having helped out as a nurse in her Dad's clinic, knew the basics of examination, checking her temperature, "She has a bit of a fever." Yuzu remarked, "It's probably just fatigue from searching for her Mom all day, but still, she needs rest." Yuzu's maturity from taking up the torch of her mom's household duties really shone through here. While I was on the verge of a panic attack even though I had ready seen Haruka collapse in the game (and knew she was fine) Yuzu was calm and collected.
"Okay," I said, cuddling the little girl in my arms like a newborn baby, "We'll let the dog finish his supper, then move out to your family's clinic. Sound good?"
"Okay," My girlfriend mumbled with a bit of trepidation partly clouding her gaze she lingered on the small girl bundled in my arms.
Fate seemed to have other ideas in mind, if the noisy sounds of vehicles skidding abruptly into the entrance of Nakamichi street were any indication. Even the dog jumped upon hearing such a harsh sound ringing through the air.
"What?" The abrupt nature this four-door Honda Civic and SUV van both swerved onto Nakamichi street led me to believing these mans spotted whatever it was they were most likely searching for. (Thank god no one was run over during their badass, but otherwise illegal turn.) My eyes dilated when a familiar, younger face of a character that wasn't destined to appear in the mix of things until 17 years on from now stepped out of the SUV, along with his right-hand man rocking his buzzcut, 'No way.'
Broad-shouldered as he was in Judgement's sequel, with widowed cheeks that looked like they could grate cheese, Daimu Akutsu cut an imposing figure. He kept up with appearances, gelling his brown hair. It looked as it did in the game, just without the obvious rebellious blond hue, for obvious reasons. The Yakuza did not dye their hair. They had a professional image to uphold after all. It let you know just how much Akutsu was expressing himself with that douchebag attire he wore in 2021 free of the restrictions enforced upon him in the Yakuza. Still, he wore an equally douchey golden suit and an undershirt with an open collar, sporting his tattoo markings.
'The fuck is he doing here?' I had to wonder. He was a current member of the Tojo clan right now, and they were on the hunt for thingy's ten billion yen. What was his face? Haruka's sperm donation because let's be honest here, that dickhead never deserved an angel of a daughter like Haruka.
"What's going on?" Yuzu whispered, hiding behind me.
"I have no idea," I mumbled back.
Akutsu and his boys stopped a few feet before us in daunting rows of five. They were 10 of them including Akutsu and his right-hand man, that guy that fought with the knife and got one-shotted by best boy Higashi when he tried interrogating Saori-chan. Speaking of Saori-chan, she must be our age now. She didn't look any older than twenty-two, though she did mention she wasn't that young in Judgement when she went undercover as a hostess. She was probably 28 in 2018, which would've made her about 15 in 2005.
I wish she was in our school. She mentioned having trouble with bullies in college since she didn't "fit in" (or was it law school?) until she met Mafuyu.
I had an innate desire to protect people like that to stop them from committing suicide. I didn't like the thought of parents having to bury their babies.
"Yo," Akutsu greeted, voice masculine and deep, "Sun Wei-kun, is it?"
I cocked my head. Interesting development.
"Yes?" I answered, puzzled, "Who wants to know?"
Amused laughter echoed all round like they found it cute I had a bit of spunk.
Akutsu jerked a thumb toward the whips, "Get in." He ordered, increasing my confusion. "You've been selected."
My confusion turned to full bewilderment by that point, "Huh?"
"What," Akutsu chuckled, "Did you think you were staying under the radar, a kid like you?" He sobered, "The Tojo clan owns Kamurocho. You can't even wipe your ass without us knowing about it. And the family could use a freak like you."
"You can't get away with being freak on our turf, kid," Baldy clarified threateningly.
"Take it I don't have a choice in the matter, do I, gentlemen?"
Laughter erupted like a volcano as though I had just cracked the best quip of the night live on stage on stand-up comedy night.
"This kid thought he had a choice!" One roared.
"Man, you're more clueless than I thought!" Another added.
Assholes.
"…Yeah." Dark intent shrouded Akutsu's intone. ""You don't choose the Yakuza life. It chooses you." Matsugane-san's words suddenly flashed through my mind.
Well, I guess negotiations were done here. I turned toward Yuzu, passing her Haruka. The younger girl weighed practically nothing, so even Yuzu, weak as she was as an ordinary junior high school girl could carry her, "Take her."
"Oi. Keep the girl in your arms," Akutsu ordered. I frowned. "She's coming with you."
"Eh!" Yuzu yelped, backing away on motherly instinct.
"Okay," I, of course, didn't listen to him, facing him again without Haruka in my arms, "Can I ask why you mans need a little girl or are you just into that sorta thing?"
"Little shit." They seethed. Binging Red Dead Redemption 2 for as much as I did in my past life really paid off. My mouth was appropriately smartened up for hostile occasions like these.
An opportunistic smile slid across Akutsu's lips, "You could say she's the key to discovering the whereabouts of the Tojo clan's missing ten billion yen." Yuzu's eyes goggled at the info bombshell. Akutsu snickered in smug delight, "Finding her and you were high priorities, so imagine our luck when we find you both together. We hit the jackpot."
"The boss is gonna freak."
I shook my head, pacing a little, "Well, that's swell and all, but you mans are misunderstanding something."
Akutsu scowled, "And that is?"
I smirked, "I wasn't freeing my hands to go with you. I was freeing my hands to offer my rebuttal."
"Huh!" They chorused, "The hell you yapping about, little shit?"
"Think you better explain." Akutsu warned.
"Counter argument." I booted Akutsu's knee, bringing him down and delivering a nasty right-hook haymaker into his jaw, "Go fucking fuck yourself!"
"Damnit!" Knife boy whipped out his knife and charged me and I effortlessly grabbed his wrist before burying a swift knee into his gut. A sharp exhale then turned in a long screech when I twisted his arm above his head, forcing him to drop his deadly tool. My free hand crashed down on his shaved head with merciless force, painting its fuzzy surface red with his own blood.
"Get off of him, bastard!" Two recklessly tried to save him from the battering ram of my fist, rushing me. I quickly put a foot on top of his bloody head and used it as a trampoline to elevate myself. The stunned Yakuza could do nothing as I counter-rushed them, spin-kicking both in the face before touching the ground and sweeping one's feet from under him. My knee was then driven hard into his sternum, knocking the wind and the life out of his sails.
"Yay!" Yuzu cheered from the side-lines, "Go get them!"
"Yeah!" A golden-reddish-orange glow shrouded my body, completely mesmerizing my wifey. Even the puppy I saved looked entranced by the bright light of my aura swelling around my form like a suit of armour, "These are my streets!"
"Sun!" A bruised Akutsu charged me like a bulldog. A muscled arm, a mere breath away from connecting with my neck, countered; a weighty fist rumoured to have the power to drop tigers exploding into his abdomen forcefully repelling him away like a reflected missile, a long grunt of agony trailing his flight.
I turned and nonchalantly walked past his remaining goons gawking at me like a demon taken human form toward the SUV they travelled in, circling to the front. I placed a hand on the bottom, tightening my grip as my bicep bulged through my blazer. With inhuman strength rivalling Aizawa Masato, I began to lift the heavy vehicle, eclipsing my body with its shadow. Eyes widened around me, opponents and spectators alike hardly believing what their eyes were seeing. I even heard snaps of cell phones capturing my feat of herculean might. No one dared miss this.
"I'm Matsugane!" I roared, holding the van above my head as if it were the WWE belt itself.
I tossed the SUV overhead like a pancake toward the Yakuza and they scattered like little Jerrys taking shelter from a hulked-up Tom, dragging their unconscious companions with them. Windows shattered, doors flew off the hinges and the roof crushed in the instance the SUV met the hard concrete floor in an deafening impact.
The defiant feat of demonic power served to punctuate my weighty declaration, "And these streets belong to me!"
They got the message loud and clear. Seeing a boy lift and hurl a damned SUV as easily as a plastic chair told them fucking with that same teenager wouldn't end well for them, so they took to the hills like the usual thugs in town.
"Oi!" Akutsu shouted, but they bared him no mind as they scurried past him, "Man the fuck up!"
I approached him like the bogeyman himself, "So you were saying something about me not having a choice, big man?"
He scowled heatedly, "You think this is over, HUH?" He glowed, heat mode flaring, "Sun!" He tried grabbing me with his mortal move, but I caught both of his hands effortlessly. Compared to Russell-Nakajima, who had Mr Shakedown-level of strength, Akutsu was nothing. I bent him over with a delivered Amazon prime knee parcel into his stomach, making him gag before wrapping a hand ruthlessly around his neck.
In true Undertaker fashion, I lifted him up and pancaked him into the concrete. He bellowed, quickly silenced when I began tumping him up repeatedly with unforgiving fury. My fist was like a machine gun drilling into his face so fast it resembled a mere blur. By the time I stood, his cheeks looked like purple balls, with a crimson enlarged clown nose in between them.
"Fucking dickhead," I scoffed, ambling back to my amazed wifey and taking Haruka from her, "C'mon Yuzu." I shot a warm smile her way, "Let's go to your place now."
"Huh? O-Oh, right!" I giggled lightly at her blushing cheeks. She gathered up the bowl emptied of its contents and put it away in a second plastic bag I received from Don Quijote. The dog yelped and began to follow us, earning a kind smile from Yuzu, "You're so strong, Wei-kun."
I tittered, "Yeah, I'm al-." I could see Yuzu beginning to pout at me, so I made sure to correct myself with a sigh, "…Yeah, I'm strong."
"Super strong!"
"Yeah, yeah. Super strong." I looked away briefly with mock annoyance, peeking at Yuzu to see her small, satisfied grin. My face brightened like the sun before we ran laughed wholesomely, sauntering away from Kamurocho amongst the gawking eyes of the large crowd my spectacle had attracted.
We made it all the way across the road before we heard another thunderous noise of yet more dangerously skidding cars penetrating from the either side of the street.
"Wei-kun." Yuzu whispered. Four more vehicles pulled up rapidly on Nakamichi street.
"I see them."
"You don't think?"
More flashy suits emerged from opened doors.
"That they're after me and Haruka-chan? Probably. Let's just leave before they see us. Haruka-chan's tuckered out as it is."
"Good point."
A crescent moon hung high in semi view of the cloudy sky by the time we set foot on our train home to Karakura Town, casting our ride in a peaceful dream lit dark blue. Particularly fitting given the train had so few passengers by this time of evening. We had a whole cart to ourselves.
"Ah!" We took a load off, sighing in relaxation on the side window seat. "I can't believe the Yakuza are after Haruka-chan." Yuzu remarked.
"Me neither," I grumbled, looking down at the little girl sleeping on my lap, "Though at least we know why her mama put her in the orphanage."
"Right," Yuzu nodded in agreement. "It was all to protect her," She gazed at Haruka sadly, sweeping the bangs of her hair gently, "I feel so bad for her. What if you hadn't been there to protect her from those jerks?" She shivered, "It scares me just thinking about it."
'Well, Kiryu would've found her if we hadn't.' I masked my dry expression behind a façade of warm gratitude to god, "Well, most important thing is, we did. Now we can look after her while trying to solve this mystery. As soon as we find her mom or her aunt, the closer we'll be to cracking this case."
Yuzu's gaze turned starry, "We'll be like ace detectives!"
I grinned, "Exactly!~"
"And those mean Yakuza won't be able to mess with you, Wei-kun!~" Even smug, my wifey looked adorably precious, "I told you, you were strong! You picked up with that SUV like it weighed nothing!" The puppy conveniently yelped as though it were following our conversation, jumping up on Yuzu's lap, "Isn't that right, Choco-chan?" She cooed, picking him up.
"I think he likes you." I smiled.
"You think so?"
"I know so," I assured, "You should ask your Dad if you can take him in."
"I will." The moonlight reflecting off the windows served well to embellish Yuzu's serene beauty when she wrapped the puppy in a warm embrace. My breath left me completely, "I've always wanted a pet. I really hope Daddy, Karin-chan and onii-chan don't mind taking him in."
"I'm sure they won't." She looked at me with hopeful curiosity in her unsullied gaze of purity, "Your family are good people. It's why I have nothing against Ichigo personally not wanting to see us together. It just comes with the territory of him wanting to keep you and Karin-chan safe; protective nature and that jazz." And in all fairness to the lad, I had made a lot of enemies, enemies that would and had targeted people I was close with out of revenge for the beating I handed them. If I were just your average joe, like your typical clueless romcom protagonist that kept his head down and got on with his life, Ichigo wouldn't have taken such an issue over my being together with his sister, this I was certain of.
He was just worried that she would that get mixed up in the admittedly dangerous lifestyle I blessedly led.
"There's no way they won't take in a poor little lost dog. They're too kind not to, and It's what I love about you, Yuzu; that you come from a genuinely good family with kind hearts."
"L-Love!" Yuzu's ears steamed red in embarrassment.
I realized my mistake, blushing brightly like a tomato, too, "…Y-Yeah."
"Wei-kun…" She murmured, resting her head on my shoulder. My nerves calmed, as I draped my own on top of hers. "You know." A quiet ambience lulled us almost to sleep, "When we sit here together like this, with Haruka-chan and Choco-chan on our laps, we almost look like a family." Her smile practically radiated those high budget bubbles shrouded around cutesy romcom protagonists.
"I know, right?" I whispered, smiling in happy content. "Who knows? Maybe one day we'll start our very own family together, Yuzu."
"I'd like that very much." A gentle answer brimming with tranquillity, "Wei-kun."
"Yeah?"
"Can you sing me something?"
"Of course."
I took out a CD, propping it in my Walkman. I would then sing Rick Astley's iconic 'Never Gonna Give You Up' that would go on to be memed to death and Sonic R's Diamond in the Sky all the way to the Kurosaki Clinic.
BLEACH IS BACK, BABY! C'mon! Let's fucking go! I've been gassed ever since its return was announced, but it still feels so surreal to see new Bleach manga coveted content in a Inuyasha final act-styled format. I have nothing but ultra-positive glowing praise for the Thousand Year Blood War anime. I loved the manga to death and ate up Kubo's hell verse one-shot, too.
It's amazing witnessing all of my favourite parts of the TYBW come to life. It's succeeding my expectations right now. Yamamoto's fight with his majesty's doppelganger and the reveal of his brilliant was straight fire, no pun intended, and I loved the creative choice the staff and Kubo took lighting the dark sky of night into blinding daylight the instance Yamamoto activated his Bankai. It really let you know just how immensely powerful Yamamoto is, so much so he could just lightly tap his sword upon the ground and open up a massive creavice. Holy shit, bro.
It's gonna hit something different when Ichibei lets loose and goes ham in this immense animation. Ichibei was one of my favourite characters in the war arc. I loved his whimsical nature contrasting devilish battle desire.
Bleach is back and I'm hyped. There are some dickheads hating on the series in the comments of 9anime, but you know what? Them man ain't going to ruin my fun. Hell no. So don't let them ruin yours, my good people.
Take care everyone and peace.
