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This story has been beta by TheReader2011. Enjoy, leave a review for me to improve!
"Phew... yesterday was horrible," yawned Kenichi as he stood next to Miu in gym class.
"Everything went well, didn't it?" asked Miu with a smile as she leaned against Kenichi.
The two time-travelers looked around to see the other members of Yomi blending into the school environment. Even Boris was here, mopping the floor as one of the teachers 'ordered' him to do. Though in reality, the teacher had merely asked Boris to help 'clean the gym', meaning just make sure the equipment was put away. Boris took it as a literal order, and so was mopping the floor.
"Team meeting after school," whispered Niijima as he passed by Kenichi and Miu, "We've got a little situation. Same as before though."
Kenichi and Miu instantly knew that this was when Satomi began trying to recruit the Shinpaku members into Yomi. The 'same as before' phrase, though, was a hint telling them that nothing had drastically changed the timeline. Anyone eavesdropping, however, would misinterpret that phrase as something else, though. Keeping their secret safe from everyone... except Natsu, who had heard it.
'Same as before?' thought Natsu, trying to decipher a bit deeper what that meant. He still had his suspicions from the ski trip, where Kenichi and Niijima had let slip some keywords when they thought he wasn't nearby. He decided to figure it out later, though.
When they arrived after school, Kenichi and Miu raised their eyebrows. They had expected the reconstruction of Kisara's old hideout, like last time. They did not, however, expect the reconstruction to be much bigger than the last timeline.
"Is that... another floor that's being added?" asked Kenichi weakly as Choju Gigai frogs hopped by, leaving several dots.
"Uh huh," nodded Miu in reply.
"Come in, come in!" waived Niijima, wearing a cape to signify his leadership, "Thanks to Siegfried's contribution as well as mine, we're not only having this building reconstructed, but expanded. I managed to purchase this building from Kisara's father."
Kenichi could only look around, feeling a bit numb. The first floor contained not only complete gym set with far more equipment than last time, but even a small kitchen as well as a storage room. The second floor had various computers and other technological gear that was also not there last timeline, not to mention they were the latest models. The third floor was more of a meeting room as well as a resting room, as various beds and private rooms were spread out. The top floor was where Niijima's throne room was, along with various tidbits. There was even an elevator being installed into the building.
"Don't worry, we made sure to leave your garden alone," added Niijima, "The first floor storage room has various gardening equipment that you can use."
"I can't even tell you what sort of emotion I'm trying to filter through," said a numb Kenichi as they returned back to the first floor.
"You're late Shirahama!" huffed Natsu from a corner, "I have other duties, you know!"
Kenichi turned to Natsu, wondering why he was hiding in the corner this time. He was sure the Honoka and Kaede were at the amusement park with Naoki, with quite a few of the Zashin Taisha-ryuu members acting as their bodyguards. As he stepped closer, he noticed Natsu trying to scoot back more until he finally turned the corner to see Renka clinging on to him.
"Wow, I didn't know you two were this close!" smiled Miu, her hand forming a heart sign at the sight.
"We're not, she just followed me," growled Natsu, trying to push Renka off and failing to do so.
"I was invited too!" shouted Renka, "I didn't know where it was, and I knew you would!"
"Hey, this way," declared Niijima, "Everyone's waiting."
Waiting at the gym stood Takeda, Ukita, Freya, Kisara, Thor, and Siegfried. Sitting along the walls were the Valkyries as well as Matsui and others. Tsuji... was still in the mountains or something.
Greetings were exchanged before Niijima asked for a report, as they had not seen each other for a while.
After the reports were done, Niijima started the meeting with a more serious tone.
"As expected, Yomi and Yami consider the Shinpaku Alliance as a part of Ryozanpaku. Though it's to be expected, considering we are close to them," mused Niijima, "They even sent out invitations to my precious captains to join Yomi."
The others nodded in agreement, confirming that they had received such invites, even at their homes. And unlike last timeline, Ukita had gotten an invite. Each one of them had firmly rejected the offer, declaring themselves a part of Katsujinken. Natsu was the exception, as Ma Sogetsu was currently living with him. Tsuji did get visitors to his house... but since he wasn't there, he had no idea what was even going on. He was still up in the mountains.
"But did you guys notice... him?" asked Takeda darkly.
"Yea, a pretty frightening person," admitted Kisara.
"He gave me the chills when I saw him," nodded Ukita.
"To be honest, when I faced him, my body started to shake a little," admitted Freya, "It was only thanks to grandpa that it stopped instantly."
"Falala indeed! I can hear the rhythm of death from that person," sang Siegfried, "And he told each of us something."
"I am the new leader of Yomi, Kajima Satomi. We honestly invite you to join our side. But, if you don't accept this offer, then you will die."
"New leader? But Kano Sho is the leader, isn't he?" asked Kenichi.
"No idea," shrugged Niijima before looking at Natsu.
"What are you looking at me for?" spat Natsu with his eyes narrowed.
"I know Yomi heads over to your house sometimes, though mainly just Kano," said Niijima, "Thought curiously, Kushinada and Tirawit also go there sometimes."
"Kano only comes because of my master," grumbled Natsu, "As for the other two... that's a whole different story. They know not to bring up any sort of martial art subjects with my sister, though."
"Well, I suppose we'll find out soon," advocated Miu, "Instead, we should train some more in preparation of what's to come."
"Kenichi, we should spar sometime again," suggested Freya.
Freya had joined up in sparring against Kenichi with a weapon, as it allowed her to practice against other weapon users. Her Valkyries were fine, but Kenichi was more of a challenge. It took some time to convince Kenichi to spar with Freya, though.
They soon split up into groups to spar while Natsu managed to finally shrug off Renka and leave.
Meanwhile, at a private Yomi base
"What the hell, aren't I the leader of Yomi!?" shouted Sho, clearly pissed off at the moment.
Currently, all Yomi members that were attending Koryo High at the moment were attending a video conference with Satomi and Ogata.
"Maa, maa, calm down, young Sho," placated Ogata through the television, "It's only temporary while you're attending Koryo High School. You did want to go there. However, with all the schoolwork while blending into the environment, you won't have as much time as you did before. So Satomi will be the leader of Yomi until further notice. It's not permanent, I promise you that."
"I don't care if it's temporary, I wasn't even told about this decision until now!" shouted Sho, shaking the television set in anger.
"It was made by my master, the One Fist himself," chuckled Satomi, "Don't worry, I have no intention of taking this place from you for long. Once you're done fooling around there, you can claim your old title. Until then, Saiga-sama has placed Yomi under my command. And as the leader, I've already laid out some plans that I'll need you all to implement."
Keep in mind that Senzui is still using Saiga's disguise, so to fool everyone, he calls himself Saiga.
"Understood," saluted Boris while Tirawit, Ethan, and Chikage nodded.
"As long as it doesn't stop me from showing off," scoffed Rachel as she whipped her hair out with her hand.
"Urg, fine!" growled Sho, disliking the fact he was now under someone's command. Then, without bothering to hear what Satomi wanted, he stomped off to the gym, intending on punching some punching bags until he felt better.
"Kano Sho! Our leader has not-" started Boris, only for Satomi to waive him off.
"Let him be. He needs to let off some steam. It's true that we went through with this without even consulting him or Godhand. Perhaps some time off from leadership will do him good. Now then, here's the plan-"
Kano Sho was pissed. That was all he could really describe his current emotional status. He had been just kicked out of this leadership status without even a thought! He hadn't lost any fights, he hadn't disobeyed orders. And yet, he had lost it because he decided to attend Koryo High just as the others did, and on an order, too! Well more of an option to choose, but he chose it anyway.
"Temporary my ass!" growled Sho as he kicked a table in his room. As object flew up and clattered onto the ground, one plotted plant was grandly spiraling towards the floor. Upon impact, the clay pot would've shattered, dirt spilling all over the floor, and the plant would be uprooted. However, the pot never hit the floor as Sho quickly caught the plant.
"Shoot, almost broke that gift," breathed out Sho in a sigh of relief, placing it back down.
He closed his eyes as he breathed in the plant's scent, the smell somehow calming him down. It had been a gift from Izumi, thanking him for the rides back home that he had been doing lately whenever she stayed late at the club. For some reason, Sho liked to take a nap in the clubroom, something that freaked Kenichi out. Anything that freaked him out was a plus in his book.
"Screw it, I'm going to train," grumbled Sho as he left his room, choosing to take the potted plant with him.
Few minutes later
Sho was going through some katas with Hayami and Seto behind him, following along as best as they could.
"Stop."
The trio stopped at Hongo's command. Hongo had been watching them the whole time in silence as they did their katas.
"Hayami, Seto, work on your footwork. You're stumbling in trying to follow Sho. Sho... good work."
Sho blinked as he heard that compliment. That one compliment... pretty much blew away all the disappointment he felt today.
"Thank you!" grinned Sho.
"Sho-sama, your kata seemed to have gained a sharper edge, more than usual!" praised Hayami.
"Indeed, and just by looking at it, it also seems smoother," added Seto.
"Hayami, Seto, focus on the footwork. Sho, follow me," ordered Hongo.
Sho looked to his fellow disciple-mates in confusion, who mimicked the same face, before following Hongo. The two of them walked into another room with a table, holding a tea set full of tea and Siberia cake for snacks. Hongo gestured Sho to take a seat while taking one himself. Sho hesitantly sat down and poured tea for the both of them while Hongo slice out two pieces of the cake with a flick of his wrist. The two sat there for several seconds in silence, Sho fidgeting at the silence.
"The Kuremisago contacted once more," explained Hongo, "They claim that you were removed from leadership because you were not worthy of it, and have asked me once more to terminate you. And as I so 'eloquently' told them before, I decide who I take as my disciple. They did not seem to appreciate this, and sent one of their better fighters against me."
"And..?" asked Sho nervously.
"I killed him," stated Hongo succinctly, "My patience with them wanes."
Sho couldn't help but smirk at that statement.
"But enough about that. I'm more interested in what's happening in your current lifestyle," requested Hongo.
Hongo had to agree with Hayami and Seto with their statements, even if it was overflowing with their usual praise. It was as if Sho's nerves, which had always been bundled tightly, had finally been able to relax and be allowed to rest, drawing it back to its full potential. He was very interested in learning what had happened.
"Nothing much," shrugged Sho, "Go to school, pretend that I'm learning something, spy on Shirahama and the Shinpaku Alliance, pretend to make friends, and then come back."
Hongo hummed at this. None of these explained Sho's inexplicable growth. There had to be something that made the difference, something that allowed him to relax.
As Hongo sipped his tea, Hayami popped his head into the room.
"Sho-sama, you left the potted plant in the practice room. Did you want me to put it back in your room?"
"Yea, go ahead and do that. And be careful with that!" shouted Sho.
Hongo's eyes sharpened when he saw the plant. It was something that Sho wouldn't have bought for himself. Anything he bought usually dealt with birds, motorcycles, or soccer. Which meant that the plant had to be a gift. Add the fact that Sho told Hayami to be careful with it meant the plant itself was something of importance. He was sure it wasn't cannabis, tobacco, or any of those damned drug plants. It was just a simple flower plant. And yet Sho was making sure that this present was safe.
"Anything special about that plant?" asked Hongo bluntly.
"Huh? Oh, just a thank you present from someone," replied Sho quickly, trying to play it cool.
Hongo smirked as he saw right through Sho's nervousness as he asked, "From whom?"
"Just someone from the gardening club," answered Sho, "Kenichi's part of that club, so I figured I'd go check it out. Apparently there's only two members, him and some girl. It's a nice place to take a nap. Yuka gave me this as a thank you for giving her a ride home when I poked at her for some information."
Sho tried to make it seem like he hung out at the club in order to fish for information, but Hongo saw through that. Sho was there to fish for information sure, but something about Izumi made him relax. The Kuremisago's first order if they ever found out Sho befriended a commoner would most likely be to kill her. He, however, was not the Kuremisago, and anything about Sho went through him first.
"I see," nodded Hongo, "Keep at it."
While Sho tried to blink and rub his eyes in disbelief, Hongo could only smirk. Sho had found his sheath. Even the finest and sharpest blades rust against the elements if not protected properly. Whether it was this Izumi or just the location where Sho rested, it was a key element in Sho's training. For him, his sheath had been his friendship with Sakaki and Suzuki. Then it was his disciples.
Whatever it was, Koryo High was proving to be a blessing for Sho.
Days passed, and soon the Koryo High Sports Festival had arrived.
"It's going to be weird without Takeda and Ukita with us," whispered Kenichi to Miu, who nodded in reply.
"Why are we doing this?" asked Tirawit dully.
"Because it's a good chance to show off!" exclaimed Rachel with a big smile, "I was right to sign up everyone for this!"
"Yea but why am I on the other team!?" shouted Sho.
"Don't know, it was randomized. Blame the higher powers," shrugged Rachel, pointing the to heavens.
Yomi had indeed joined in on the Sports Festival, but somehow, Sho ended up being on the white team while the others were on red team.
"Bullshit!" growled Sho.
"Ah, Kano-san, you're on team white too?" called out Izumi, who happened to be walking right by them.
"Haaiii, you are too?" smiled Sho, instantly making a 180.
"Pfft, nice one there, ex-leader," teased Rachel.
Tirawit scoffed as he turned to leave, only for Boris to catch him leaving.
"Where are you going, Kokin? The instructors told us to have fun with others," stated Boris.
"Yea this is a rare opportunity," smiled Rachel as she busy holding Chihiro with a wrestling move for suggesting something stupid, like pulling down Miu's bloomers in a relay race. That would just attract more attention to Miu and away from her!
"There is only one thing for a wolf to do, inside a herd of sheep," stated Tirawit.
"Yes, but do be careful as this 'herd of sheep' has in fact, several shepherds to keep the wolves at bay," sighed Taiki, patting Tirawit's head with a clipboard, "I'd rather not see any bloodshed while at school."
Tirawit blushed, forgetting that there was a master on the side of Katsujinken watching over them. They had contemplated on bringing a Satsujinken master into the school board, but the semester had already started, and it would've been a waste of resources to try to bulldoze one in.
"Nonetheless, try to have fun," commented Taiki as he walked away, "And Rachel, do let go of her."
"Okay!" said Rachel cheekily as she let go, only to suddenly dash off when she heard a cheerleading show would be starting. Another place to garner attention!
Chikage was actually attending the middle school Sports Festival where Honoka, Kaede, and Naoki were. Despite being in high school, she was the same age as them. Not to mention she had something personal to prove against the three.
"Yaa, we're on the same team!" cheered Renka as she tried to jump onto Kenichi, only to miss and somehow ended up hugging Natsu.
Kenichi and Natsu had been talking, more specifically about their little sisters' sports festival. Natsu was still slightly concerned about Kaede's health despite Akisame's statement that she was perfectly healthy. He had taken care of her for so long, so it was really instinctive at this point. However, Kenichi pointed out that Ma Sogetsu would be watching her sports festival along with Kenichi's father and mother, thus would be able to receive medical help if needed.
Natsu sighed, forgetting despite all his flaws, Sogetsu did have medical experience. And with Kenichi's family, he knew Kaede would receive the proper care without someone trying to kiss up to him. And it was this line of thought that distracted him. That, and the fact he had been ready to bring up the topic about what Kenichi had said to Niijima back in the mountains with Jihan.
So when Kenichi suddenly moved, Natsu didn't register why he did so until he felt two soft round objects slamming into his chest, followed by the weight of a human body with legs wrapping around him.
"Dammit exhibitionist, let go," growled Natsu as he managed to stabilize himself.
"Mmm, why should I? Aren't you enjoying this pervert?" teased Renka as she subtly moved her chest up and down.
"Hardly," deadpanned Natsu as he managed to pry Renka's legs off him, though a small blush could be seen on his face. Renka was wearing shorts, so while Natsu pried off her legs with his hands, he could feel Renka's powerful and yet soft thighs.
After dropping Renka, Natsu coughed as he turned around, just to see both Kenichi and Sho looking up at him, both with smirks on their face as their hands covered their mouths, all while giving a little "Fu fu," laugh.
"The hell you two laughing!?" roared Natsu as he tried to swipe both of them with a single hit, only for the two to dodge, "When were you two so chummy!"
"Careful Mr. honor student, there are other people watching," grinned Kenichi.
Natsu immediately changed his second swing into a exercise pose to make it seem like he was warming up, though still scowling at them.
"Ah, we should join the cheerleading squad!" grinned Renka as she suddenly pulled Miu with her.
"Wait, Renka, but I don't-" started Miu, only for Renka to continue pulling her away.
A few moments later, both Rachel and Renka were both in cheerleading uniforms, cheering along with the cheer team. Needless to say, all the young male teenagers' attention as well as a few females were on Rachel and Renka, who attracted the most attention with their bust, waist, and hip, and the fact they were wearing skimpy clothes that enhanced them.
"Hmph, I was right. She is an exhibitionist," muttered Natsu as he turned to walk away.
Kenichi looked around to see where Miu had disappeared when he heard her voice.
"Umm, Kenichi? Do I look good in this?"
Keninchi turned around to see Miu in the cheerleader uniform, trying to pull down the skirt to cover her underwear.
Splurt
Kenichi immediately went down from seeing such a heavenly vision, nose bleeding and all. It didn't matter that Kenichi had seen Miu almost naked quite a few times in the past timeline, seeing Miu in a cheerleader uniform was something that he could kick off the bucket list.
"Kyaa, Kenichi!?" panicked Miu as she quickly went towards Kenichi, though secretly happy at this result.
"Tch, typical," scoffed Kisara, looking down at her own chest before stomping away, kicking an unfortunate soul that passed by her.
Several sports events passed by with Yomi, Kenichi, and Sho winning most of the events. Soon enough, the cavalry battle event had arrived. Now, this particular event was rather interesting, as Takeda and Ukita had graduated, and thus were not in the sports festival.
"How did this happen?" blinked Kenichi.
"Hell I know," growled Natsu.
"I'd like to know the same thing," nodded Sho.
Somehow, the three of them wound up on the same team. The other students had all already paired off, leaving these three together.
"So... who goes on top?" asked Sho curiously, "Cuz let's face it, I don't want to be on the bottom."
"The hell I'm going to carry anyone," growled Natsu, "I already deal with that shit with Renka."
"You carry Renka every day?" blinked Kenichi.
"Not what I meant!" shouted Natsu while Sho gave a smirk.
"Well we have to think of something," shrugged Sho, "Everybody else is already making their formations."
The trio looked around, noticing that Sho was correct. They were the only ones not in a formation yet.
"So..., suggestions?" asked Kenichi.
"Kekeke, I have one!" said Niijima, popping right next to Kenichi, scaring the trio for a second.
"You think that's a good idea?" asked Kenichi after Niijima whispered his plan for them.
"Keke, they'll never know what hit them!" laughed Niijima.
Meanwhile, Rachel was standing next to Tirawit's group. In his formation, Tirawit was the rider while Boris, Ethan, and a random passerby they grabbed were his horses.
"What's this? Isn't this totally the opposite of what you said earlier?" teased Rachel.
Before Tirawit could reply, the event started. Rachel quickly ran back to the cheer squad to continue cheering.
"One of our bad traditions of our school is about to start," sighed principal Yasunaga, his shiny head glinting off the sunlight.
"It's okay, everybody is looking forward to this," chuckled the vice-principal.
Soon, the violent cavalry battle started. Koryo's version of the cavalry battle was that instead of taking someone's headband or hat, you had to completely annihilate them by forcing the rider into the ground to break the formation. Of course with this tradition, rival delinquents aimed for each other in an attempt to 'legally' beat them up. It was because of this that many, if not all, of the female population at the school, chose not to participate in the cavalry battle. Not to mention the inappropriate attempts of groping there would've been in the event. So it was made to be a male-only event.
"Ah, that horse team from the red team is so fast!" exclaimed one of the female students.
"Yeah, like, three times as fast! They're breaking through the white team's formation with ease!" shouted another.
"It's the foreign exchange students!" cried out another.
With just a quick whip of his hands, Tirawit caused many students to fall. With Boris in front and Ethan providing power, they charged through the crowd. The last student with them was crying as he tried to keep up.
"Wait, there's another horse team from white that's also destroying the red team, too!" exclaimed another one.
"They're so fast, too!"
"It's... Shirahama, Sho, and Natsu!"
Tirawit turned to see Kenichi as the front horseman, Natsu the back, and Sho as the rider, laughing as he also destroyed others. Quite a few tried to aim for them with jealousy on their mind.
"Hahaha, if I destroy the bishounen group, I'll get all the big breasted girls!" Koga laughed maniacally, the ex-member of Ragnarok, as he urged his horse towards them, "I'll start with Miu, then Renka, then Rachel, hell all the girls! I'll even take Izumi!"
This comment ticked off all three of them.
Just as Koga's team was approaching, Kenichi quickly kicked at his opponent's legs, causing them to trip and tilt forward. Koga flailed his arms, trying to balance himself when Sho grabbed his head. The fall had punted Koga forward right within arm's reach of Sho. Without hesitation, Sho flung him up over his head, though not before punching Koga in the stomach once. As Koga was falling back towards the ground, Natsu mule kicked him right at Ethan. Without mercy, Ethan kicked him into the ground.
"Oooh, I don't think he'll be getting up anytime soon," winced Niijima from his position.
"To think I had him in my group," scoffed Kisara in disgust.
Seeing that Kenichi's group was a three-man team, Ethan bumped their last teammate away from them. Their extra was merely a decoration as well as deception, but seeing that their opponent only had three, it only made sense to adopt the same line of thought. Not to mention it was much more comfortable to support Tirawit from behind than on the side.
"Ah the two are about to clash!" shouted an audience member.
Indeed, the two teams were headed right towards each other. It seemed as though an inevitable clash would occur soon! Just before impact, a huge dust cloud suddenly appeared between them, causing many of the audience to cough and protect their eyes.
In the dust cloud, Tirawit tried to aim for Kenichi despite him being the horse, when he suddenly had to block a swipe from Sho.
"What are you doing?" hissed Tirawit.
"C'mon Kokin, it's the name of the game," grinned Sho, "Plus, I'm not going to lose on purpose."
At the bottom, Boris had engaged Kenichi with a series of low kicks, only for Kenichi to block them with his kicks. Still, what puzzled Boris was that Kenichi merely blocked or parried his kicks, choosing never to attack. Boris knew for a fact it wasn't because Kenichi had no room for attack.
'Is he just playing passive? And what for?' thought Boris as he tried to up the tempo to land a hit.
"And times up!" shouted the announcer, forcing the two teams to break off, "Current score: Red team-1, White team-2! This year's winner is the white team!"
"Kekeke, all according to plan!" laughed Niijima from the sidelines. While everyone had gone after everybody else, Niijima opted to have his team just to hide.
"Did you get enough?" whispered Boris as they walked to their corner.
"... Barely," sighed Tirawit, "I couldn't get enough of an analysis thanks to Kano Sho's interference."
"Did he even know about your plan with Satomi?" asked Ethan.
The trio remained silent for a bit until Boris spoke up, "I... don't think we ever told him. He was still angry for losing his position as leader of Yomi."
"A miscommunication on our part," nodded Tirawit, "But nonetheless, we'll have to go with plan B."
Lunch time
"Ah man, they must be pissed at me," sighed Sho as he leaned against a tree trunk, "But c'mon, did they expect me to lose on purpose? Not to mention the team set up was completely out of my control."
Sho hummed to himself, wondering what to do before deciding to go annoy Kenichi and perhaps hit on Miu once more.
As soon as he leaped back onto his feet and turned, he almost crashed right into Izumi.
"Oh, hey, what's up?" asked Sho, stabilizing himself quickly and grabbing Izumi to make sure she didn't fall.
"Ah, Kano, I was looking for you!" smiled Izumi.
"What for?" asked Sho.
"Did you want to eat lunch with me? I packed an extra bento for you!" Izumi whispered/shouted somehow at the same time, lifting up a lunch basket.
Sho blinked as he pointed at the basket, to which Izumi nodded. Then he pointed himself, as if confirming that the lunchbox was indeed for him. Izumi nodded once more.
"Oh geez," said Sho, raising his hand to scratch the back of his head, "I'm... well... I-"
"It's okay if you don't want it," said Izumi, "I understand if you have other things to do."
"Wait wait wait wait wait wait!" Sho quickly stammered out. Seeing Izumi's sad expression hurt him a lot more than getting hit by his master's punch, though he wasn't quite sure why. He shelved that thought for later as he focused on the girl on hand.
"Sorry, I was just caught by surprise," apologized Sho, "I'd love to eat with you. I didn't have any lunch plans, and had been ready to head to the school cafeteria to get something to eat."
"Really!?" shouted Izumi happily.
"Really," grinned Sho.
The two sat down once more to eat.
Meanwhile, Miu and Kenichi were enjoying a private lunch date at the rooftop, scaling the building in a span of 10 seconds. The other members of Shinpaku Alliance were eating together while Niijima was fiddling around with his PDA.
Natsu was content on eating along with the bento box his little sister had made, and was enjoying the peace and quiet until...
"Hey!" shouted Renka, destroying the peace and quiet that he so desperately wanted.
"What is it?" growled Natsu, "Don't you have some sort of exhibition show you should be doing to your adoring fans? Flash them some more of your skin or something?"
"How rude," huffed Renka with a pout, "I just didn't want to be shown up by that Yomi girl. But unlike her, I won't flash my bare chest to others just to get more attention!"
'Can't disagree with you there,' hummed Natsu to himself, knowing Rachel well enough that she would do such a thing.
"Second of all, I just wanted to eat my lunch with you, and take some of your sister's cooking," declared Renka as she plopped down next to Natsu and stole an octopus sausage.
"Hey, I didn't give you permission to eat from my lunchbox," grunted Natsu hold his lunchbox away from Renka.
"Oh relax, you can have some of mine," shrugged Renka as she opened her lunchbox to reveal some sweet and sour pork, "Here, say ah."
Without hesitation, Renka shoved a piece of pork into Natsu's mouth. Natsu halted for a second before slowly chewing on the pork so as not to choke on it. After a few bites, he swallowed it.
"Pretty good," admitted Natsu, "You have your cook at the restaurant make this?"
Renka looked down shyly, something that was completely foreign to Natsu, before speaking, "Actually, I made it. I was hoping you'd like it."
"In that case, it tastes like shit," answered Natsu curtly.
"Hey, you can't just change your answer like that!" huffed Renka as she tackled Natus, though not before putting her lunch box down.
Natsu quickly managed to put his down too just as Renka tackled him. Before they knew it, Renka was on top of Natsu, her face just centimeters away from Natsu. The two stared at each other for a few seconds, unable to decide just what to do. Finally, Renka decided to do something by moving her face down towards Natsu. Before it went too far, though, the duo heard a gaggle of girls walking by. They quickly separated, sitting down as if everything was normal.
"Kyaaa, Prince Tanimoto!"
Apparently, the gaggle of girls were all Natsu's fangirls, and was soon swarmed by girls offering him lunches. Renka sat on the side and giggled at his misfortune, but somewhere inside her heart, something burned brightly with jealousy.
Several more events passed by for the Sports Festival, and it soon ended with the white team winning by one. As the students slowly returned to the locker room to change their clothes, Niijima, Kenichi, and Miu stayed behind.
"You sure you want to do this?" asked Niijima in a low voice.
"Want to? Not really. Need to? Yes. I can't let Daimonji get beaten up like before, and if I don't nip the karate club in the bud, it could allow Satsujinken to flourish in it with Tirawit in charge," confessed Kenichi.
"I'm coming with you," declared Miu.
"I... I guess I could use the help," sighed Kenichi, hesitating on that choice when Miu glared at him, "But try to keep a small distance. Far enough not to get spotted, but close enough to help."
"What about getting Yamamoto-sensei?" asked Miu.
"Knowing Yomi, they probably have a distraction ready for him," advised Niijima.
"Well, I guess it's time to postpone that deadline," said Kenichi as he stood up, "Time to go water the flowers."
As Kenichi ran to his flower bed, carrying his usual tools, he found Daimonji laying down on the ground next to the flower bed with bruises everywhere. As Kenichi tried to treat the more serious bruises, Daimonji told Kenichi that Tirawit had beaten him up and that the Karate club was in trouble. Kenichi ran right in the Karate club, with Daimonji following him, just to see just like the last timeline, a bunch of delinquents all wearing Muay Thai hand wrap. Kenichi looked behind him to see Daimonji shutting the door in an attempt to lock him in.
Despite Taiki's interference, Tirawit had managed to lure Daimonji and his little gang after school, and then proceeded to defeat them all without any trouble. He then took over the karate club with ease.
As all the Karate club members, or rather the Muay Thai club now, got into various Muay Thai fighting stances, the new captain of the karate club began to brag about how Tirawit, or rather lord Narasimha as they called him, trained them all in Muay Thai. The old captain, Tsukuba, had graduated despite being a delinquent.
When Daimonji tried to explain just who Narasimha was, the captain quickly told him to shut up, explaining that Tirawit had deemed Daimonji talentless, and to only be their punching bag.
"Daimonji," Kenichi said softly as he slowly approached him.
"Shut up! You think you know me? You, who have always been strong!?" screamed Daimonji as he tried to swat away Kenichi's hand.
Kenichi easily caught it, but softly but firmly held it in his grasp, "Yes. I know what it's like. Because no one knows that pain better than I do."
Daimonji tried to scoff, to tell Kenichi that he was a liar, but the look in his eyes told him that Kenichi wasn't lying. That he did know that feeling. In the end, all Daimonji could do was kneel down in exhaustion.
"Now, let's try to talk this ou-" started Kenichi, only to dodge a Gemon Tepii, or a flying knee to the face.
"There's no need to talk!" shouted the Muay Thai captain.
As Kenichi dodged the fierce attacks from all the club members, he couldn't help but think where Taiki, their gym teacher, was.
At the other side of the school
"Koga... what am I going to do with you?" sighed Taiki as he pinched his nose.
Kneeling in front of him was Koga with a black eye and a bump on the back of his head. However, in Taiki's opinion, the black eye was well deserved. After all, he had been caught peeping in the girl's locker room. The black eye was from Izumi's friend, Makato, who chucked her naginata at Koga. The bump was from when Rachel decided to suplex him. That one may have been a bit overkill, but it did drive the message in, he supposed.
"It's not my fault, I was baited!" shouted Koga.
"By?" asked Taiki with a raised eyebrow.
"Well.. umm... there was a note on the ground," muttered Koga, only for Taiki to cough to make Koga speak up, "It said that the window to the girl's locker room would be unlocked. I was curious, so I went to look, and saw it was unlocked! I mean, someone obviously intended to peek, and one of the girls inside must've been an accomplice. Who knows what the original perpetrator had been planning!? I should be a hero for stopping them!"
"You should've told a teacher instead of going there, and with a video recorder, I might add," said Taiki sternly, "Ethan caught you in the act before you managed to start recording."
It had been very easy to bait Koga to that location. All they needed to do was drop a note for Koga to find, have Rachel unlock the window, and an instant distraction was made. Ethan had been hiding there to 'catch' him in the act.
"But.. but-" started Koga, only for his eyes to glaze over as he began to drool. For behind Taiki, Rachel had pulled down her bra to reveal her breast, her finger tantalizingly covering her nipple. Then she quickly pulled it back up before Taiki could turn to look at what caused such a thing.
"Koga, pay attention," sighed Taiki as he slapped Koga by the top of his head.
Back at the karate club
'So what to do,' thought Kenichi as he dodged an elbow strike. He didn't want to beat them up like he did last time, but it was getting annoying. He did consider using something to tie them up, but he didn't exactly have the tools to keep them still.
'How did my masters knock someone out without touching them?' though Kenichi before suddenly facepalming at that though. He could clearly remember Sakaki causing people to fall unconscious by flouting his Ki. He still abused that skill whenever somebody annoyed him.
"Haha, got yo-!" shouted a club member, only to suddenly freeze.
As did the rest of them. Including Tirawit, who had been hiding behind the punching bag, using the crowd to hide himself.
Kenichi had released his Ki, using the intimidating force that came with the use of Ki no Shouka. To each one of the club members, they were looking at a giant. Each one of them flinched as Kenichi turned his head to each one of them, his glowing eyes slowly tracking them all.
"Get lost," ordered Kenichi.
The club members may have feared and respected Tirawit for beating them and teaching them Muay Thai, but Kenichi right now downright terrified them. They eagerly obeyed, rushing for the door to get out. Soon enough, only Tirawit, Kenichi, and Daimonji remained.
"Daimonji, this is something between the two of us. Get to safety," ordered Kenichi.
Daimonji quickly scampered off, not wanting to deal with the two titans in the room.
Silence reigned between the two, with Kenichi staring at Tirawit while Tirawit was trying to calm himself down.
"Quite impressive," stated Tirawit, "To drive them away with just your Ki."
"Your point?" asked Kenichi, "Their attacks were fierce, but they don't have the mental focus."
"I'm saying that a naive boy like you did a surprisingly good job of putting fear in your colleagues," commented Tirawit.
"Better than beating the shit out of them," snorted Kenichi, knowing where Tirawit was trying to drive this.
"Tch," scoffed Tirawit before continuing, "To be able to emit such Ki, your body must have been trained. Your limb... no, your entire body has become a deadly weapon. In time, your fists will be the same as our Satsujinken."
Tirawit quickly attacked in hopes that Kenichi would be disorientated from the mental attacks. He punched the sandbag at Kenichi, who blocked it. He soon found out his barrage of attacks to be completely ineffective as Kenichi blocked them. Tirawit quickly tried to slam a double elbow to Kenichi's head, only for it to be blocked. Without hesitation, Tirawit switched into a spinning kick to Kenichi's stomach, only for Kenichi to suddenly catch his leg. Tirawit felt his whole body shift as Kenichi threw Tirawit into the ground, causing him to cough in pain.
"You're wrong," stated Kenichi, "My fists are my master's gift. The sign for my own path! To fight for injustice! I will not kill, and I will beat you or anyone from Yami down as many times as you want! That is what I've chosen!"
Tirawit quickly flipped backward to recover, taking a few deep breaths to regain control of his breathing. He clucked his tongue as he heard Kenichi's statement, and knew from there that he made a huge miscalculation. Then again, thanks to Sho's interference, Tirawit didn't get information to construct a character analysis on Kenichi, even after seeing him in the DFOD. He had hoped Kenichi's mental strength was weaker, but that statement told him otherwise. His 'heart' was just as strong as his 'technique' and 'body'.
'I'll have to gamble on one last hope,' thought Tirawit as Kenichi approached him, 'Maybe he'll hesitate if I take a defenseless stance.'
It was far from Tirawit to gamble on such moves, but he was running out of options on a bad plan. He cursed Satomi for putting a deadline/threat on the offers made to the Shinpaku Alliance. Both had thought that perhaps with such overwhelming strength at a young age, he would be arrogant or not as mentally developed. It was a common trait among powerful people at such a young age, with Sho being a prime example. And according to their information, Kenichi had only joined Ryozanpaku during the second semester of their senior year in middle school. To become so strong so fast raised the chance of arrogance.
It became painfully obvious to Tirawit that this wasn't the case with Kenichi. Either Kenichi had been training far longer than their records stated, or Ryozanpaku's master made sure to stomp out any arrogance that could've taken root. Tirawit wasn't sure which one was scarier.
Tirawit put his arms down as Kenichi threw a punch to his face.
'Come on, hesitate,' thought Tirawit as the fist approached closer and closer, 'You Katsujinken will always hesitate if the attack kills. That fist is approaching closer than I like it too. It should be... OH SHIT!'
Tirawit had to perform emergency evasive maneuvers, which led to some rather ungraceful movements as he had to bend his spine backward to dodge the attack. Tirawit quickly rolled away from Kenichi.
"For a Katsujinken, that was a pretty dangerous move. You could've killed me," sneered Tirawit.
"That at most would've just knocked you unconscious, given you a concussion, and end the fight," Kenichi shot back, "I know how to control my own strength and how much force to use to knock someone out. I've had plenty of experience just how much is needed to be knocked unconscious from being the guinea pig."
'I don't know whether to be scared of that or pity that he knows personally,' thought Tirawit as he kicked the punching bag at Kenichi to distract him as he threw a flurry of fists.
Kenichi easily punched it away before using Ryusui Seikuken to parry or dodge Tirawit's attack. Tirawit tried to use Yan Erawan, only for Kenichi to push his attack to the side while dodging. Tirawit gritted his teeth as Kenichi slammed several punches to his torso, sending him rolling against the ground before he flipped back up. As Tirawit looked up, he saw a knee coming for his face.
Before the knee could hit, a blur slammed into Kenichi, causing the two to tumble for a bit.
"Got you!" shouted Boris as he managed to somehow grapple Kenichi, his arms in a chokehold while one leg locked his right arm, his other holding the left arm behind Kenichi's back and pushing against his back.
круг синигами (Circle of the Shinigami)
Boris immediately tried to slam Kenichi's head into the ground, only for Kenichi to slam his right arm down into the ground to prevent that, carrying Boris's whole body weight on his arm as well as his own. Kenichi had managed to break out of Boris's grasp on his right arm, preventing Boris from giving him a concussion.
"What!? How much power does he have in such thin arms!?" gaped Boris.
Kenichi easily broke out of Boris's hold, sending him skidding next to Tirawit.
"This is my fight," remarked Tirawit.
"It was a mission that was about to fail," shot back Boris, "I intervened to help. Though even with my help, it does not look like we will accomplish our mission."
"Then how about three of us?"
Kenichi immediately blocked a surprise nerve strike from behind by Ethan. Ethan had been aiming for marma point at the back of his neck, hoping to seal off his body and perhaps kill him. Instead, Kenichi had managed to turn around and block it with his left arm.
'Not where I was aiming for, but this works,' thought Ethan as his finger sunk into a marma point on the arm, 'His left arm should be paralyzed. Easier for us to take him down.'
Then, to his horror, he found out that he couldn't pull his finger out. Kenichi had tightened his muscles so tight that not only did Ethan fail to actually strike at the marma point, but they were stuck inside the muscles. Before Ethan could react to this new situation, Kenichi had already slammed a kick to Ethan's midsection.
Ethan could feel his ribcage groaning under protest, swearing some of them fracturing, as he was sent flying back into a wall. Ethan quickly pushed himself off the wall as the trio surrounded Kenichi, each one of them readying themselves once more. If they couldn't take him one on one, then perhaps three on one they stood a chance.
It soon became clear that while they had a numbers advantage, they weren't using it to its fullest. More than once, their attacks would hinder each other. Tirawit growled as he had to dodge an attack that Kenichi parried from Ethan, crashing into Boris's attempt to grapple. None of them had fought with each other before, always choosing to train by themselves or with their own masters. Ethan and Boris tried their best to cooperate with Tirawit, but Tirawit was too used to working on his own. Ethan worked with his sister while Boris had his own team that he commanded. But among themselves in Yomi, they had no such camaraderie. The only person that could possibly work well together with anyone in Yomi was Sho, who had learned all ten martial arts within Yami, thus knowing the intricacy of each style.
'Still, he is slowing down,' thought Tirawit as he tried to elbow Kenichi in the face, only to have that blocked, 'We're cornering him.' Indeed, Kenichi was being pushed towards a corner, next to the door.
Suddenly, Kenichi kneeled down, confusing the trio for a second. Then their instincts all screamed at them to raise up their arms to their face. Trusting their instincts, they all did so just in time as a heavy kick smashed into their guard, sending them skidding back.
"Sorry I'm late, I got distracted," apologized Miu as she landed next to Kenichi, "Some of Kokin's flunkies tried to stop me."
Tirawit could only click his tongue at this development. There was no way they could win this now. He had witnessed the two of them take out a Master class fighter, and had no delusions that he and the other two could match them.
"Why are you here Fuuriniji?" demanded Boris as he crouched once more, "Our fight is with Ryozanpaku's disciple only!"
"I am also a part of Ryozanpaku," replied Miu, "Technically, I would also be Ryozanpaku's disciple, so it's also my fight, too."
"But-" started Ethan, only for Miu to interrupt him, "Though I mostly learned from my grandfather, I have had some training from Ma Kensei and Koetsuji Akisame. Maybe not as much as Kenichi, but I won't let you gang up on Kenichi."
Tirawit looked as his fellow members, calculating the percentage of winning, no matter the cost. It was roughly zero, so to speak. In short, they couldn't win.
"Let's go," ordered Tirawit as he lowered his arms, "This mission is a failure."
Boris looked over at Ethan, who looked back, before nodding and dropping out of his fighting stance. The trio cautiously walked towards the exit, ready if Kenichi and Miu tried to continue the fight. When it became clear that they wouldn't attack, the trio walked out to report back to Yami.
"Glad that's over with," sighed Kenichi as he walked out of Koryo High, having changed out of his PE uniform.
"I was slightly worried," admitted Miu as she leaned onto Kenichi's shoulder as they were walking back to Ryozanpaku, "The first time when I learned that you almost died, my heart stopped. I don't think I could take it again if that happened."
"Well this time, maybe Yomi will learn to back off a bit more," muttered Kenichi, "So what's next?"
"Well since you conquered your fear already, you won't need to go with Shigure for her sword hunt," suggested Miu.
"That would be nice," admitted Kenichi, "We could use that time to go out on some dates. We haven't been able to do so after the semester started."
"I want to go watch that new movie that just came out," declared Miu.
"We'll do just that," smiled Kenichi.
"Report," ordered Satomi as Tirawit, Boris, Ethan, Rachel, Sho, and Chikage stood in front of him, "Status of mission?"
"Wait, what mission?" blinked Sho.
"The mission to... ah right, you weren't there," muttered Satomi, "Incidentally, what were you doing after the Sports Festival ended?"
"Just relaxing," shrugged Sho. There was no way he was going to tell them that he had been walking Izumi home. Lately, a newly formed fan club for Sho had started to get jealous of how Sho preferred to be with Izumi, even having pictures of Sho driving Izumi home. So at a school where delinquents were everywhere, they tried to hire some to push Izumi away from Sho.
That plan failed as the 10 delinquents chose to ambush Izumi while Sho was with her, hoping to not only scare Izumi, but also beat up Sho for taking most of the girls and for looking like a pretty boy.
Small Flashback
"Izumi, close your eyes and count to ten, alright?" asked Sho, "Oh, and cover your ears, too.
Izumi, mystified at the request, did so while the delinquents jeered and taunted at Sho.
One
Two delinquents went flying up in the air.
Two
Three more were slammed into the ground.
Three
Five more received kicks to the head.
Four
The flying delinquents in the air were grabbed by Sho, where he piledrove them into the ground.
Five
Two tried to run away, but Sho easily caught up with them and slammed several punches into them.
Six
Now the delinquents were all unconscious, Sho looked around to see where he could hide the bodies.
Seven
Sho found a conveniently placed large tree with a leafy crown and sturdy branches, as well as some thick bushes.
Eight
Sho began tossing the bodies into the tree or into the bushes without care.
Nine
Sho began dusting himself off, making sure his uniform looked neat.
Ten
Izumi opened her eyes to see the sidewalk that had been filled with delinquents all gone.
"Wow, what did you do?" asked Izumi.
"Oh I just politely asked them to leave," smiled Sho as he raised his right hand. He quickly put that down and raised his left instead, as his right fist was covered in blood.
"And they just left?" asked Izumi.
"Well... I may have had to drive the point in," whistled Sho as he surreptitiously wiped the blood off his hand on the wall, "Come on, it's not safe to stay out late these days.
Flashback ends
"Yea, just relaxing," said Sho, "Went to get some stuff."
"Alright. Chikage?" asked Satomi.
"Middle School Sports Festival," replied Chikage curtly, "Nothing much. Blending in the environment, mixing with commoners. They are... confusing."
What wasn't said was that she had reverted to 'child mode' when Kaede and Honoka gave her some sweets. She had also developed a small rivalry with Naoki during the Sports Festival, competing to see who was better.
"Hahaha, well it'll do you good to understand them," laughed Satomi before turning to Tirawit, "And the four of you?"
Rachel had been ready to go into detail of just how much she showed off, grabbing attention, when Ethan apologetically placed his hand over her mouth so Tirawit could report first.
"Unable to terminate target," sighed Tirawit regretfully, "Target is shown to not only be physically strong, but also with a mental fortitude much sturdier than expected. His heart was not shaken when I tried to psychologically attack him."
"You didn't try to trick him into attacking your grunts?" asked Satomi.
Tirawit shook his head, "Instead of physically incapacitating them, he instead chose to scare them off with his Ki."
"Should've expected that," muttered Satomi, "It's not like we didn't know he was already in the realms of Ki no Shouka. Well at least we know he shows more maturity than Kano and Rachel."
"Hey!" shouted Sho while Rachel let out a muffled shout.
"Regardless, I'm guessing you tried to fight him," said Sho, ignoring the shouts.
"Yes. He has more control over his strength than expected. Even when I lowered my defense in an attempt to make him hesitate attacking me in fear of killing me, he continued forward, forcing me to abandon that strategy. He claims to know just how much strength was needed to knock me out, and it wasn't something I wanted to find out whether or not it was true," replied Tirawit.
"I came in to aid Kokin in his fight, but that wasn't enough," supplemented Boris.
"I also tried to strike at his marma points, but he knew exactly how to stop that attack," added Ethan, who was now cowering and covering his head while Rachel was 'lightly' punching his head.
"All three of us attacked Shirahama Kenichi with no real success in landing any attacks. Now that I think about it, when we 'cornered him', it was a trap," commented Boris, "It was only our instincts that allowed us to block kicks from Fuurinji, who joined in the fight. Seeing that we could no longer win, we chose to retreat. They allowed us to do so."
"It also made me realize one flaw within Isshinsai Ogata's statement," added Tirawit, drawing all their attention, "He once stated that he believed it would take us working together to face him. I believe that when he said that, he thought perhaps two to three of us. I think it wouldn't work."
"Explain," asked Satomi.
"None of us are 'familiar' with anyone, even though we are all a part of Yomi," extrapolated Tirawit, "When fighting together, we began to hinder each other's movements, thus limiting our full potential. The only person who could work well with any of us would be Sho, as he has studied all the disciplines within the One Shadow Nine Fists."
"So what do you suggest?" asked Satomi, "Mind you, I can work Natsuki and Hatsuki."
"Those two are your personal bodyguards whom you train with together, sharing the same style," corrected Tirawit, "Shirahama Kenichi and Fuurinji Miu, though reside in Ryozanpaku, have different styles, and yet are able to work together seamlessly. Our choices are to train in a desperate attempt to catch up... or spar with each and/or train how to fight together."
Yomi remained silent at that statement, not knowing just how to respond to that.
And done with this chapter! Hope you enjoyed it. And now to the Omake!
Omake: When Yomi came to visit the Taninmoto family
"Ah, c'mon, you have plenty of room here for us to sleep in," whined Sho.
"No means no! I'm not having you guys sleep here, not with my younger sister here!" shouted Natsu.
It was the first day that Yomi had come to Koryo High, and while Yami had already made housing preparations for them, Sho thought it would be better to sleepover at Natsu's mansion. After all, he had all those rooms and only two residents there.
"Come on, it must get boring without anyone there!" pleaded Sho.
"I don't fucking care, just get out!" hissed Natsu, "I'm not letting my little sister get involved in this world!"
"We won't tell her, we'll be quiet, honest!" said Sho.
The two of them began to squabble while the rest of the Yomi members just stared stone-faced at this.
"Should we... do something?" asked Ethan.
"I'm having too much fun watching this," giggled Rachel, pulling out a bag of popcorn from somewhere.
"This is ridiculous," scoffed Tirawit.
"Agreed," added Chikage.
"Onii-chan, dinner is ready!" said Kaede as she walked into the entrance hall just to see Natsu and Sho entangled up, "Who is this? And who are they?"
"Ah, Kaede, this is...," started Natsu as he quickly untangled himself from Sho before pausing, not knowing what to call Sho.
"I'm his friend!" grinned Sho as he quickly bounced up towards Kaede, shaking her hand, "And these others are my friends! Nice to meet you."
"... A pleasure," replied Kaede, "Will they be joining us for dinner?"
"No!" "Yes!"
"Ah c'mon, we're friends, aren't we?" asked Sho, turning to Natsu, who had said no.
"Not even," shot back Natsu.
"It's alright, I made Japanese curry tonight, so we have plenty of extra," smiled Kaede, "Please, come on in."
Soon, Yomi was sitting at a large dining room table that seemed like it hadn't been used for a while.
"It's good to see this table used again," noted Kaede as she served plates full of rice and curry, "We usually eat in the kitchen, though Natsu is always eating at his desk while working."
"Can't be helped, I'm busy running a corporation," grumbled Natsu as he chomped down, "The quarter this year isn't looking too good. Somebody is slacking in the accounting department. I'd to fire them if it wasn't for the fact that I need to find someone to lead them again."
"Can't you get Uncle Shirahama to help you with that? He is the divisional chief at his work, and if I ask, he'd help," suggested Kaede.
"I'd rather not ask, but if it comes to it, I might," sighed Natsu.
"Wait, Shirahama?" asked Boris, noticing the name, as did the rest of Yomi.
"Yes and no to what you're thinking," replied Natsu, "That surname, but Kaede's referring the father."
"Ah, they know Kenichi too?" asked Kaede, "I'm best friends with his little sister, Honoka."
While Tirawit and Boris began to plot if they could use the sister as bait, the front door's ringer rang as it opened...
"Ah, Honoka is here! Uncle took so long to get her!" smiled Kaede.
The plot to use the sister as bait ceased as not only Honoka came in, but also Ma Sogetsu.
"I'm here!" shouted Honoka as she skipped to Kaede, "Sorry it took so long."
"No worries, I made curry! I want you to try some!"
"Okay!"
While Yomi stared at Sogetsu, who had plopped down, Kaede and Honoka had already fetched another plate of curry for him. Sogetsu grunted as he began to eat before looking up.
"What are you lot looking at?" growled Sogetsu.
"Nothing," answered all of Yomi as they started to eat again. But not before Tirawit and Boris saw that glare in his eyes, his eyes shifting over to Kaede and Honoka. It was plenty clear what that meant. Honoka and Kaede were off-limits on whatever they had planned.
Dinner had finished, and soon the company relocated to another room to relax.
"That was some good curry," complimented Rachel as she patted her stomach.
"Thank you," replied Kaede as she shipped on her tea, "Your brother makes some good tea, too."
Ethan nodded in thanks as he poured some more for his sister, adding sugar cubes to her tea just as she liked it.
"So, what brings you here now?" asked Kaede.
"Nothing, they just came to visit, now they're leaving," stated Natsu with a cold tone.
"Err, yea I guess," sighed Sho. After being fed food and knowing that Ma Sogetsu resided here, it didn't seem to be a good idea to reside here. Especially now that he was much more aware that Kaede wasn't even aware that her brother was a part of the underground world of martial arts. Not to mention Sogetsu's passive-aggressive threat to leave the two girls alone.
"Perhaps Sho's idea of residing here has merit," chimed in Tirawit, "It would be easier for us to-"
"I'm sorry, but we have no rooms," said Kaede.
Tirawit and the others turned to Kaede and flinched when they saw a demonic mask forming behind Kaede. All of them were shocked at their own reaction. They were all accomplished martial artists... so why were they terrified of a little girl? Chikage herself was trying to tell herself she was stronger than a girl her age.
"No but-," began Boris but Kaede turned her gaze to him, silencing him.
"I do not mind feeding friends... or people who claim to be such. I do not mind if they don't properly say thanks for the meal."
At this, Tirawit, and Boris flinched. They had not done the Japanese custom of thanking for the meal before or after. Only Chikage and Sho had done so, and that was mainly because they were already familiar with the Japenese tradition that it was ingrained in them. Ethan and Rachel hadn't done it either, but they did politely thank Kaede for the meal afterwards, with Ethan even making tea for them.
"However, I will not have free-loaders living at our home without reason or permission. My brother has enough of that at his corporation. I will not allow it to spread to our home, where he gets some peace of mind here."
Kaede walked across the room before pulling out a specific foldable table with a specific case.
"That being said, I am not unreasonable," declared Kaede as she quickly unfolded the table with a snap of her wrist, "So I will make you a deal. Beat me in MahJong, and I'll allow you to live here."
She placed the case in front of her and opened it, revealing a pristine set of MahJong tiles.
"Honoka will be on my team. You may choose whomever you like in your little group to form a team of two."
The members of Yomi looked at each other before deciding to have Tirawit and Chikage go up. While they began to set up, they never noticed Natsu looking to the side, trying to cover his face while his shoulders were shaking, while Sho was poking at him, asking why he was shaking. Nor did they notice Sogetsu's smirk as he kicked back on the coach.
Few rounds in
'How!?' thought Tirawit as he looked at his tiles. He had declared a double richi early in the game with his tiles, and was waiting for 2, 3, 5, 6, and 8 man to win. That was a 5 tile wait, and within it should 17 tiles within the wall. It should've been easy. And yet in one stroke, Honoka and Kaede had neutralized it by drawing in almost all of the tiles, carefully navigating through the minefield. That round ended with nobody winning.
Tirawit looked over to Chikage, who seemed to also be sweating. A glance at the scorecard told them all he needed to know. Both he and Chikage were down in points. He had no idea how Kaede could read them both so easily. Honoka was also someone that he should've been able to read but was unable to. Rather, she seemed to follow whatever Kaede wanted, making it difficult to predict.
The two had tried to cheat via use of grapple technique, which was to swap two unwanted tiles into the wall and grab two new ones, only to feel Sogetsu's threatening gaze, which stopped them. It didn't help that Kaede let on she knew they had been attempting it.
"Richi," declared Kaede as she tossed out a tile.
Chikage looked puzzled at the discard. It was a 7 circles tile, a rather valuable tile. Still, she wasn't one to complain as she quickly grabbed it with a pong. As she had been prepared to toss out an East wind tile, Tirawit's voice cut through.
"Careful!"
Chikage stopped as she looked at Tirawit, who was looking at Kaede's discard. She followed along that track, looking at the discard before widening her eyes. Looking at it now, she could see just what possible tile Kaede was looking for. She had tossed many tiles that would be considered 'valuable', but yet none of the tiles of 1 and 9 had revealed itself.
'No way, 13-way Kokushi wait? The Thirteen Orphans hand?' thought Chikage.
Seeing that threat, she quickly changed, tossing a 2 bamboo tile.
"You may have seen it, but it is inevitable," declared Kaede as she drew in a tile, "I win."
"13 Orphans, RISING SUN!"
That last hand destroyed any chance of them winning.
"Shit," cursed Tirawit as he fell back onto the chair, "Guess we lose."
As they began to clean up, they could see Chikage looking down at her hands. It wasn't until they asked if anything was wrong did she look up. There they could see puffed up cheeks as well as a pout and tears almost forming in her eyes.
"Not fair!" complained Chikage.
Despite how she was raised to be more mature than other children her age, despite being called a prodigy, she was still a child at the same age of Kaede and Honoka. Some 'childishness' flaws still came through, and one of them was being a sore loser.
"MahJong has too much luck built into the game, not enough skill! I bet I could win if it was something else!" hissed Chikage.
Rachel and the others were looking at Chikage in surprise, never having seen Chikage act this way. Even when she lost against Satomi, sh did so with grace. Though it helped that she had never lost this badly.
"Ooh, do you want to play Othello with me then?" asked Honoka, raising up her board.
"Deal!" shouted Chikage.
Chikage would later taste defeat for the second time that day. It wasn't until later that Chikage declared them savants at their games, but swore to defeat them someday. Needless to say, they weren't staying at the Taninomoto manor.
Reminder, this a martial arts fanfic, not a mah jong fic haha.